Naked and Afraid
by TwinkleHeart
Summary: AU: One man and one woman, both experienced survivalists are taking on the most punishing adventure of their lives. They have no water, no food and no clothes. Their task is to survive on the barren island of Andros in the West Indies for twenty-one days, Naked and Afraid.
1. Chapter 1

**In this AU world, assume that Rick and Kate are meeting at the same time in their lives that they meet on the series, except that it is 2015 instead of 2009. So Alexis would be 14 like she was when the series started. It's late spring/early summer and the Ashley Tisdale case never happened, or hasn't happened yet. When I started this I had recently watched a marathon of** ** _Naked and Afraid_** **(on the Discovery Channel) and immediately thought how fun it would be to put Rick and Kate into this kind of situation. For reference, I'm loosely following the episode** ** _Blood in the Water_** **from season 3. I've borrowed the location and some of the events from the episode, but it's long gone from my DVR and I haven't written the entire story yet so it won't follow exactly. And here we go…**

One man and one woman, both experienced survivalists are taking on the most punishing adventure of their lives. They have no water, no food and no clothes. Their task is to survive on the barren island of Andros in the West Indies for twenty-one days, Naked and Afraid.

Rick and Kate were dropped off along the western edge of the Bermuda Triangle, in the pine forest of Andros Island. With the third largest barrier reef in the world, it's a breeding ground for venomous sting rays and the menacing ten foot Caribbean Reef Shark known for its sudden, terrifying acceleration. Rick and Kate will have to navigate along a harsh terrain of razor sharp limestone rock and dense vegetation that contains toxic poisonwood trees, conceals dangerous wild boar and the Bahamian Boa which can reach lengths of up to eight feet. With limited sources of fresh water on the island, trekking northeast will give the survivalists an ample supply at one of the iconic blue holes of Andros.

Rick stripped off his last layers of clothing and stood naked in the sparse forest wearing nothing but a necklace with a small decorative bead that housed a tiny microphone. Through the trees he could make out the silhouette of the woman that would be his partner for the next three weeks. He was able to deduce that she had long brown hair and a thin, athletic figure. His new partner was making her way towards him through the haze of branches and bushes. He didn't know how to stand or what to do with his hands. Was he supposed to cover up his junk or just walk with confidence? Choosing the latter he started walking towards the woman that was quickly coming into view. _Well, here goes nothing!_

* * *

ONE WEEK EARLIER…

"Richard, what are you thinking? You know nothing about primitive survival and you can't hunt. Just last week you screamed like a girl over a little spider."

"Mother, that spider was not little, it was huge!"

"Exactly my point, dear. What are you going to do when something bigger than your pinky nail comes flying at you from out of the jungle?"

"First of all, it's not the jungle. They told me it was an island in the Bahamas. Second, the producers know that I don't have any real hands on survival skills. They promised to pair me with someone who knows what they are doing. Besides, I've read at least ten books on primitive survival skills, hunting and plant identification. How hard could it be to put into use everything that I've learned?" Aside from book research, Rick had purchased several different kinds of fire starters and practiced building fires in his living room (in the fireplace, of course). He also had skyped with two of the shows previous contestants and received some great tips.

"Remind me again why the research you've already done isn't enough?" Martha inquired.

"If I'm going to have Derek Storm marooned on a deserted island, I need it to be authentic. Why settle for second hand accounts when I can experience it for myself and really know how it feels to be fighting for survival?"

"So why not go on one of those survivalist adventures? Why does it have to be a nationally syndicated TV show?"

"That's the best part, mother. Paula thinks it's great publicity for the next book. Guaranteed to sell millions of copies!" The producers of the show were skeptical at first. They liked the idea of having a celebrity as a contestant, but they were nervous about his lack of practical survival skills. In the end they were satisfied with his extensive knowledge and research and decided to give him a chance.

"You're already a best-selling author, Richard. I hardly think this is necessary." Rick found his mother's concern touching. He reached for her hand and pulled her in for a hug.

"Don't worry, mother, I'll be fine. I'll have a small crew with me, and a medical unit on standby just in case. Plus I've been preparing my body. They won't let anything happen to me. I promise." Rick had been laying naked in the sun on his private balcony fairly regularly for the past month. He wanted to make sure that he had a nice, even all-over tan. There was this one episode of _Naked and Afraid_ where the man had burned every square inch of his body, including his man bits, and Rick did not want that to happen to him. He also practiced walking around Central Park with no shoes on, one hour every day, making sure to walk on rocks and other uneven surfaces to thicken the skin on the bottom of his feet. He had also been hitting the gym to build up strength and improve muscle tone. If he was going to be naked on TV, in front of a strange woman, he wanted to make sure he looked his best.

"Remind me again why you have to be naked?"

"It's the ultimate test of survival. Clothing is a kind of shelter and this show is about stripping you of everything, so to speak, and testing your ability to survive the elements." Just then, the door to the loft opened and Alexis appeared with a package that she held out to her dad.

"Looks like it's from the show, Dad. What is it?" Rick opened the package with the enthusiasm of a five year old on Christmas morning.

"Oh cool, it's my diary cam! I'll be using this to take my own videos on the island." Rick turned it around in his hand, opening and closing parts of it while looking into the box for more stuff. The only other thing in the box was a brief letter explaining that he should shoot some footage before he leaves and share his last minute thoughts while he's packing. Alexis sat down next to her father and took the video camera. She turned it on, aimed it at her father and pressed record.

"So, Dad, are you really ready for this adventure?"

"I was born ready." Rick flashed the camera one of his most charming smiles.

"What are you looking forward to the most?"

"I want to prove to myself that I can do this. I'm used to creating perilous situations for the characters in my books. I put them in life or death situations and imagine how they would get themselves out alive. It's time to make fiction reality and I'm not afraid to test my survival skills." Alexis raised an eyebrow. "OK I won't lie, I'm a little afraid, but I'm looking forward to starting this adventure."

* * *

Kate Beckett did not want to be on television. She especially didn't want to be on television completely naked. The first time the producers of _Naked and Afraid_ approached her, she turned them away within 5 minutes.

"So let's get this straight. I'm naked, in the wilderness, with absolutely no food, no shelter and I'm there for three weeks with a strange naked man? And no prize money for completing the entire twenty-one days? Hell no." She even called up a few of her friends to see if she was being set up on some kind of prank TV show. Once she established that the show was legit, she set her DVR to record the show so she could see what it was all about. They were two seasons in and looking to start casting for the third season.

By the second episode, Kate was hooked. The show focused on primitive survival skills. The nakedness wasn't some lame attempt at a trashy dating show. Many of the contestants were married or in serious relationships. It was pure survival, which was something that Kate was very into. After her mother died she got into extreme sports. Her mother was gone, her father had become a depressed alcoholic and Kate became reckless. She would go rock climbing, bungee jumping, skydiving, surfing, hang gliding… it was a different sport every weekend and she was often with a different guy during each new adventure. Sometimes she even went riding on her Harley without a helmet.

Kate realized that thrill seeking, however fun it was, was not filling the hole in her life. She made the decision to switch gears and enter the police academy after completing her undergraduate degree, instead of going to law school. She wanted to become a homicide detective, reopen her mother's cold case and find the bastard that killed Johanna Beckett. _Random gang violence my ass._ She knew there was more to that story. Now, ten years later, she realized that riding without a helmet was just plain stupid. She still enjoyed the occasional thrill of extreme sports, but she made sure to strictly follow all of the safety precautions.

Katherine Beckett made headlines at the police academy. She graduated at the top of her class and performed better than any woman in the history of the academy. Her fitness scores rivaled that of the highest scoring men. The New York Times had featured her in a story about powerful women in Manhattan. The story also went into her love of extreme sports and her background as an amateur survivalist in college. She had also grown up spending time at her parents' cabin in upstate New York, hunting and fishing with her dad. The producers of _Naked and Afraid_ had found this article when they were searching for qualified contestants. Even though the article was a good six years old, further research showed that Katherine Becket was the youngest woman to make detective in the NYPD's history. She was exactly what the show was looking for.

The second time the producers called, Kate was more prepared and she had done her research. After several phone calls and one in person meeting with one of the show's producers, Kate agreed to be on the show. Her competitive side won out after she binge watched the entire second season over one weekend. She laughed when contestants tapped out before their twenty-one days were over and yelled at the TV how pathetic they were. She could do this. It was going to be awesome.

The night before she left, Kate took out the video camera that the producers sent her and pressed record. "I'm not scared to go play in the woods. I want to know if I can push myself to the point where I honestly think I'm going to die, and get past that. I'm pretty confident that I can."

* * *

 **AN: I already have roughly 3 chapters written and I'm hoping to stay ahead of things so that I don't fall behind. My last (my first!) story took an embarrassingly long time to complete and I don't want to repeat that. I'm hoping to update at least once a week.**


	2. Chapter 2

DAY 1

Kate stood up and surveyed her surroundings. It was warm, the ground was rocky and there were a lot of trees. The producer who rode with her told her it was time to strip naked. Kate was comfortable with her body, but it was a little weird to get naked with a fully clothed camera crew filming her. There would be a four-person camera crew following Kate and her partner over the next twenty-one days. Two of them were with Kate so she assumed the other two were with her partner. It was looking like she was going to be hanging out naked with five strange men instead of one. She was told that the camera crew would only intervene in the case of a medical emergency and she was not to try and engage them in conversation. The producers would be observing everything from a nearby camp, watching the camera feed while they hung out in well-equipped tents. With their clothes on. Eating food.

Kate removed her socks and shoes first and then stripped off her shirt and shorts. Standing in her underwear for a few seconds she started having second thoughts. _Why the hell am I doing this?_ Kate was never one to back out of a challenge so she took a deep breath and removed her bra. She knew she looked good and she had been preparing for this day by adding in extra workouts with a personal trainer and making sure she had a good base tan. She had also taken care of certain areas with some laser hair removal sessions. There was no way she was going to be stranded here naked with hairy armpits and hairy _other places_. She wasn't here to impress anyone, but she didn't want to embarrass herself either.

Kate secretly hoped that her partner was cute and single. It would make the entire experience a lot more tolerable if he was easy on the eyes. There were bound to be awkward situations, especially at night, so even if there was no romantic interest from either party it just seemed easier if he was also single. She didn't want to be the source of jealousy for a significant other back home. As for personality, she just hoped that he wasn't a complete jackass.

 _I'm naked. In a forest. With a camera filming my every move._ Kate knew that all the naked parts would be blurred out before the show hit the air, but that didn't take away from the awkwardness of the current situation. The producers told her which direction to walk and pointed to the area where her partner was going to appear shortly. She could see that his two-person crew included one woman. Kate was a little relieved. Even though she wouldn't be allowed to talk to her, it was nice to know that another woman was there. She could make out her partner's profile through the trees. _Why is he just standing there?_ Kate started walking towards him and was relieved to see that he finally started walking as well. He was tan with brown hair, tall and very, very naked. She tried to focus on his knees and fight the urge to check out his other, um, attributes. It wasn't until they were only a couple feet apart that she lifted her head to look him in the eyes. He was smiling and holding out his hand.

"Hi, I'm Rick." She reached out to shake his offered hand.

"Hi Rick, I'm Kate." He was staring into her eyes. Perhaps he was having the same problem trying to focus attention away from the fact that they were completely naked. Well at least one of her prayers were answered, he was definitely easy on the eyes. Speaking of which, his eyes were a gorgeous deep blue and she found herself getting lost in them. His smile was genuine, albeit a little nervous. His handshake was warm and familiar, which was odd because they had never met. And then something clicked. She knew this man and she had met him once before.

"I think our bags are over there." Rick pointed to a nearby tree branch that was supporting their bags. On every show, each contestant was allowed one survival item and a canvas tote bag. One of the bags would also contain a map of the island. The pair walked over to the bags.

 _Holy fucking shit. Stay calm, Kate._

Rick looked in his bag and pulled out his item. "I chose a fire starter." He held up the small metal rectangular item and grinned like a child showing his class one of his prized possessions at show and tell. "What do you have?"

Kate reached into her bag and pulled out a giant knife. "I chose a sawback survival machete." She turned the knife around in her hands, both of them admiring its potential. Rick had a hard time holding back when he saw Kate standing there with that knife, holding it out like some primeval goddess of war. _Keep it in your non-existent pants, Rick, your mother and daughter are going to be watching this on TV._

"I think you also have the map." Rick said, making an effort to look at just about anything else by inspecting his bag to see if it contained the map. He didn't have the map. Kate returned the knife to its safety sheath and pulled the map out of her bag. They unfolded it and looked at it together. "Look at that, they drew sharks over there. Aren't they cute?" Kate lifted an eyebrow and gave him a sideways glance.

"Cute? You do realize that means there are sharks in the water that we most likely have to go in at some point."

"Yeah, but look." He pointed to the sharks on the map. "They drew smiley faces on them." Kate leaned in to see the sharks in question.

"Those aren't smiley faces, they look like angry faces to me." Rick swallowed audibly and opened and closed his mouth with no sound coming out. He looked down to where her – _oh shit_ – left breast was touching his right arm. Kate stood up abruptly and took a step back.

"Oh shit, sorry! I almost forgot for a second that I was naked." Kate blushed and struggled to cover what she could with her bag, which really only succeeded in covering her lower parts. There was nothing she could do about her breasts. Rick was also turning a bright shade of red as he tried to speak.

"Yeah well have you seen yourself naked? I'm trying hard to be a gentleman here but, wow." Could Kate's face get any redder? She couldn't decide if she should slap him or thank him after that comment.

"I guess this is going to take some getting used to." They both laughed nervously as they tried to regain some composure – and safe distance.

 _How about getting used to the fact that I'm stranded on an island, NAKED, with Richard fucking Castle!_

Rick pointed on the map to one of the Blue Holes of Andros that was closest to their current location, according to the map. "We should be able to find drinkable water here, how about we head northwest and build our shelter there?"

"Sure!" Kate smiled and started walking alongside Rick, making sure that nothing else brushed against him. Rick was looking forward and trying very hard not to look at his partner. She was one of the most beautiful women he had ever laid eyes on and he didn't want to embarrass himself by letting her see just how much her physical appearance was affecting him. He adjusted his bag, made sure certain parts were covered, and tried to concentrate on navigating the rocky terrain.

When Rick first laid eyes on Kate he was completely blown away. Tan from head to toe with the most perfect body that he was trying very hard not to stare at. He concentrated his gaze somewhere around her stomach until her face came into view, but that had backfired because she had her navel pierced and it was incredibly sexy. He quickly brought his gaze up to her face and willed himself not to look down. Luckily the stress of being naked with two video cameras pointing at him prevented a certain body part from reacting in a way that would completely embarrass himself in front of his new partner. _She has to be a model with that face and that body._ Then when she turned to walk over to retrieve the bags he caught a glimpse of her tattoo, a small blue butterfly that sat low on her right hip. _Fuck, that's hot_. Rick was in trouble. _Please be single_ , he thought.

By the time they finally reached their destination they were tired and thirsty. Walking across the uneven ground full of rocks and other prickly things was also very hard on their feet. Kate was pretty sure she had more than a few cuts, but she wasn't in a hurry to see the damage. She prided herself on being tough and had a reputation around the Twelfth Precinct for being quite the badass cop. Badass cops didn't complain about sore feet. Hell, she chased down suspects twice her size wearing four-inch heels; she could certainly suffer through a few cuts and scrapes.

"How are your feet?" Rick asked and Kate stared at him in surprise. Was the famous novelist also a mind reader? Rick sat down on a large rock and inspected his own feet.

"A little sore, but I'm OK. You?" Kate asked.

"I practiced walking barefoot in Central Park, which helped, but I still got a little torn up going over some of those rocks back there." He was close enough to put his feet in the water, which seemed to help, so Kate did the same.

"Central Park? Do you live in Manhattan?" Kate already knew he did, but she wasn't about to let on that she knew who he was. It would be pretty embarrassing if he knew how big a fan of his she was.

"Yes, you guessed right, Detective." Kate laughed at that. "Wait, what's so funny?"

"Nothing. Inside joke."

"You can't have an inside joke with yourself. As far as I can tell, I'm the only other person here unless you have other men on standby hiding in the bushes. Well, except the camera guys who are, um, right over there standing in the bushes." Rick waved at the camera that was pointed at his face.

"Nope. You and I are exclusive for the next twenty-one days." Kate flashed him a smile and then immediately looked away. She was unintentionally flirting with him and this was SO not the point of her coming out here. Besides, for all she knew he had a girlfriend and she was being entirely inappropriate. After a few seconds Kate risked turning her head back to look at her partner. He was watching her and smiling. "Staring is creepy, Rick."

"Not staring, just admiring the view."

"And you just upped the creepy level."

"No, really, look." Rick was pointing beyond her at the island scenery. She was so busy concentrating on acting normal and getting her mind off the awkwardness of their situation (naked) that she hadn't taken the time to really look at her surroundings. He was right, it was a view worth admiring. The crystal clear blue water that gradually turned into a dark opaque blue at the center, the trees, the landscape - it was beautiful. If she had to be stranded on a deserted island, she could think of worse places to be. And worse people to be stranded with.

They were sitting at the edge of one of the unique blue holes of Andros. Unique because the deep holes, although largely composed of seawater, have a layer of fresh rainwater that floats on top. After several hours of hiking through rough terrain under the intense heat of the sun, both Rick and Kate were extremely thirsty. Armed with only a fire starter and a knife, they had no way to boil the fresh water from the blue hole. Rick, however, had a theory about the water they were currently soaking their feet in. "I think we can drink this water."

"We can't drink it without boiling it, we'll both get sick." Kate had absolutely no interest in vomiting all night next to Richard Castle. Or worse, she shivered at the thought, _diarrhea_.

"The ultra violet rays are so strong here. I'm pretty sure that the water at the top has been radiated enough to zap out anything that could harm us. I think we should go for it."

"Go ahead, you first." Kate was not willing to take this leap of faith just yet, but Rick got up and searched the nearby area until he came up with a hollow reed of sorts to use as a straw. He leaned over and drank from the surface close to shore.

"Tastes a little fishy, but really quite refreshing." He stood up and held out his straw to Kate. "Are you sure you don't want any?"

"No thanks. I'm good." Rick shrugged and bent over to drink a little more. Kate allowed herself to admire his very muscular backside. She imagined she could bounce a quarter off his butt it was so tight. _There's a few other things I'd like to do with his..._ Kate shook her head and looked down at her feet to try and clear her mind of _inappropriate_ thoughts. This show was on the Discovery Channel, not Showtime.

* * *

 **AN: When I first imagined this story, I wanted to make Castle more of an asshole. In the end I decided that he would be primarily focused on his motive for coming on the show (research for his novel) and less focused on getting into Kate's metaphorical pants. Plus, as I mentioned in the story, he is very aware that every move he makes will be nationally televised. I'm not promising that he's not going to piss her off at some point (or vice versa), but for now they seem to be getting along quite well.**


	3. Chapter 3

"We should probably get to work on a shelter before the sun sets." Rick had finished drinking his fish water and was ready to put some of his vast knowledge of survivalist skills into use. The two of them got up and started searching for appropriate building material. Rick was talking non-stop, pointing out the different plants and going on and on about how to build the perfect shelter. Kate loved listening to him talk, there was a soothing nature to his voice and he actually seemed to know what he was talking about. She was happy to let him take the lead, plus she was too tired and hungry to argue. He kept trying to talk to the camera crew, cracking jokes and trying to make them smile. Kate noticed one of them trying to stifle a grin, but for the most part they kept quiet and remained professional.

It took them about two hours to build a very basic shelter that included a pretty solid roof and a floor covered with a cushion of what they hoped would be more comfortable than the sharp rocks that seemed to be absolutely everywhere. Rick stood back and looked at their little hut with his hands on his hips and a triumphant smile on his face. "We work really well together, Kate, this is going to be great!" His smile was infectious and Kate couldn't help but smile back at him. They went back to the water's edge to soak their tired feet some more and take a moment to rest.

"You certainly know a lot about building shelters. Do you do this often?" Before that day Kate would have probably assumed that 'roughing it' for Richard Castle meant staying in a 3 star hotel instead of a 5 star, but perhaps that would be judging him too harshly.

"My daughter and I go camping at least once a year, but always in a tent with an air mattress. This is a first for me. I've been reading a lot of books, trying to learn as much as I could before coming out here and doing this for real." Oh right, his daughter. Kate remembered reading that he had a daughter on one of his fan sites. She also knew that he divorced wife number two a couple years ago, but this did not necessarily mean that he was still single.

"It must be hard to be away from her." Rick nodded.

"I missed her the second I left. Her name is Alexis, she's 14 and my mother is taking care of her while I'm here."

"Your mother? What about - "

"Her mother?"

"Sorry, I don't mean to pry."

"Not prying at all, it's just us for three weeks so we should get to know each other, right? Alexis' mother left us when she was three. It's just the two of us, she's my whole world. And you? Is there a Mr. Kate that I should be worried about?"

"No, there's no Mr. Kate. No kids, no boyfriend, it's just me. I'm kind of a workaholic so there isn't much time for a personal life." Rick perked up at the mention of her single status, but then his heart broke a little when she mentioned that she was basically married to her work. There was a sadness in her eyes when she spoke, something that alluded to more than just loneliness.

"All work and no play makes Kate a dull girl." Kate found it oddly amusing that Richard Castle was quoting another mystery writer's work. She smiled and kicked her left foot in the water, splashing Rick in the process. "Hey!"

"Stephen King fan?"

"Let's just say I'm a fan of the genre. Do you ever ready mystery novels, Kate?" Oh this was interesting.

"Don't worry, I'm not going to go crazy and try to chop you to bits. I took time off of work to come here, didn't I?"

"What is it that you do? Oh wait, don't answer that. Let me guess. My first thought was that you had to be a model, based on your looks. I'm still not abandoning that theory because look at you, you're gorgeous." Kate blushed and tried to hide behind a curtain of hair while he continued his assessment. "But there's more to you than that, a certain badass quality that I can't put my finger on. You went to college, probably a pretty good one. Where do you live?"

"Right now I'm stuck on this island with you, which is quite different from the island that I usually live on." Rick's eyes brightened as he realized what that meant.

"Manhattan! How about that? Me too, small world."

"What makes you think I wasn't referring to Hawai'i?"

"No way, you are most definitely a New Yorker."

"OK, well maybe I live on Staten Island or Long Island."

"Well, you're not bridge and tunnel. No trace of the boroughs when you talk, so that means Manhattan. I wonder if our paths have ever crossed before."

"There's over 1.5 million people living in Manhattan, I highly doubt that."

"I don't know, you do look a little familiar." Kate's eyes widened in surprise. There's absolutely no way he would have remembered her from that book signing she went to all those years ago. She had waited in line for over an hour and had spoken to him for all of thirty seconds while he signed her book and thanked her for reading his novel. In fact, she was so star struck that she could hardly do more than smile and thank him when he handed her book back. There was absolutely no way he would have remembered that. "Aha, I knew it! You must have done some modeling and that's why I recognize you." Kate breathed an internal sigh of relief.

"Sure, that must be it. OK, you win Rick, I did have a brief modeling career but it was nearly ten years ago and I doubt you saw any of it unless you read women's fashion magazines." She raised an eyebrow and gently shoved his arm with her elbow. "So, how about that fire starter? It's starting to get dark so we should get that going.

"Changing the subject? OK, I'll drop it for now, but we have a lot of time here together and I'm determined to find out more about you." Forget Derek Storm, Rick was quickly becoming inspired to write a whole new character based on this woman that he just met. Suddenly he wished his survival item had been a stack of paper and a pen so that he could write. It was going to be torture waiting to get home before he could write. This was not something he could have ever predicted. It was just supposed to be research for Storm, but he couldn't stop the ideas from flying through his head. His first thought was of a female superhero, Batman style: Professional by day, crime-fighting vigilante at night. Complete with a sexy, skin-tight crime fighting costume. "If you could be any super hero, who would it be?"

"Elektra." Kate said, not skipping a beat. _Oh that's hot._

"OK, I can work with that," Rick mumbled to himself.

"What's that?"

"I said, I can work with that." Rick pointed to the pile of twigs and brush that Kate had been gathering to build their fire. He produced the fire starter out of his bag and held it up with a smile on his face.

They were hungry, but not starving. Both had eaten giant breakfasts in preparation for the show. Kate still hadn't had anything to drink, but Rick seemed to be fine after drinking the slightly sketchy surface water from the blue hole. Kate had decided that if he were still fine in the morning then she would drink the water herself. The close sleeping quarters was a little bit awkward, but exhaustion proved to be powerful that first night on the island and they managed to both fall asleep, side-by-side, within minutes of lying down.

* * *

At some point in the middle of the night they were both awakened by one of the island's native inhabitants. There was some sort of animal nearby and it was getting closer. Rick woke up first and started tapping Kate's shoulder.

"Kate," tap tap tap, "Kate?" Tap tap tap, then a little louder, "Kate!" She stirred and rolled onto her side, closer to him. The fire had died out a couple hours after they fell asleep, leaving them completely in the dark. Rick was really glad that it was pitch black because he would be unable to stop himself from staring at her naked body and he didn't want to be the creep who was caught ogling her while she slept. The animal made more noise as it moved in the bushes behind them and that was enough to wake Kate up. She sat up abruptly nearly knocking Rick in the face and started reaching next to her as if she was grasping for some sort of weapon.

"Are you looking for the machete?" Rick grabbed her bag from where it was resting between them and held it out for her.

"No, my gun." _Her WHAT?_

"Um, your gun?" Kate startled as she took a few seconds to fully wake up and think about what she said.

"Right, the machete. What the hell is out there making that noise?" As if to answer her question a sort of grunting sound shattered the silence of the night, followed by a high-pitched squeal. Make that two high-pitched squeals. Rick covered his mouth as Kate snickered at him. "Seriously?" She stood up and turned toward the noise.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm going to find out what animal is making that noise and I'm going to kill it so we can have a nice meal tomorrow. I'm thinking wild boar based on the sound it made, although it's hard to tell over the sound that _you_ just made. Let's hope you didn't scare it off." Kate was whispering, but it was easy to tell that she was extremely annoyed with the writer and he could swear that she was rolling her eyes at him in the darkness. "Why don't you relight that fire so I can have some light. I've never killed anything in the dark." And then she was gone, presumably off tracking the boar.

Rick reached around for his own bag and retrieved the fire starter. It took him about five minutes to find their fire pit and bring it back to life. He heard some movement in the bushes but couldn't figure out if the footsteps belonged to Kate or the boar. Probably both. After what seemed like forever, but was probably about twenty minutes, Kate was back beside him at the fire, a slightly angry look on her face.

"I saw him, but he got away. If only I had my gun, I could have shot that little fucker right between the eyes and we'd be eating bacon for breakfast." There she went talking about her gun again. And what was that about not having killed anything in the dark? Did that mean…?

"You have a gun?"

"Unfortunately they wouldn't let me bring my gun, but I suppose a knife is more useful in our current situation since we need to do more than just hunt. But I swear, Castle, I could have shot him. I'm so useless with this knife in the dark." Rick was so focused on "her gun" that he did not register that Kate had just called him by his last name, and Kate was so worked up about not getting the boar that she didn't realize her slip either.

"Your, um… gun?"

"Yes, my gun, why do you keep asking me about my… oh." There was enough light from the fire to see the expressions on both of their faces. Rick was sporting the "deer in headlights" look and Kate was sporting the "light bulb above my head just went off" look. "Care to make another guess as to what I do for a living?"

"I think you just gave yourself away there, officer." Kate shook her head. "Agent?" Kate shook her head again. "Oooo, you're a spy!" Kate laughed, no longer upset about losing the boar.

"I'm a police detective."

"That is so hot."

"NYPD, homicide."

"Will you marry me?" Kate started laughing, but Rick continued to stare at her with the same deer in headlights look.

"Careful there, what if I said yes?"

"I'd say we could tap out right now and go start our lives together. With clothes on." He lowered his eyes and husked into her ear, "or not." Kate knew he wasn't being serious, but even work obsessed Detective Beckett wasn't immune to Richard Castle's obvious charm. She remembered grinning like a love-struck teenager when she had met him at that book signing.

"I bet you say that to all the girls. Come on, Romeo, let's go back to bed." They found their way back into the shelter and resumed their earlier positions, keeping about a foot of space in between them.

"Oh hey, I just got your inside joke." Kate looked his way and lifted an eyebrow in question. "Earlier when I called you Detective and you laughed." Oh right, that. "I get it now."

"Congratulations, Rick. Good night."

"Until tomorrow, Detective."

* * *

 **AN: I was watching an episode from season 4 of Naked and Afraid (I didn't even realize it was airing already!) and it looks like you get the fire starter as a freebie and they each get to choose one other survival item. Reminds me of Wheel of Fortune when they just started giving you RSTLNE as freebie letters on the final puzzle. I'm keeping it old school in this fic since they are supposed to be on season three. No freebie fire starters in the third season.**


	4. Chapter 4

Richard Castle did not fall back asleep. His urge to write was stronger than ever. Being here with Kate was simply too good to be true, Paula must have had a hand in picking her for the show, knowing how she would inspire him. He made a mental note to give Paula an extra generous Christmas bonus this year. The last Derek Storm book did not do nearly as well as its predecessors and Black Pawn was not happy about that. Gina, his second ex-wife and publisher, was also very much not happy with that. Perhaps marooning Storm on a deserted island wasn't the answer after all. The idea of writing a new novel with a strong female lead was becoming more and more appealing. Rick had the feeling that what he knew about Kate was only scratching the surface. Women like her didn't become police detectives, they became lawyers, judges, college professors. Kate had a story, a reason behind her career choice, and he was determined to find that story. At the same time, he sensed that she was a very guarded woman, walled up with more protection than Fort Knox. It would take time to earn her trust, but that's one thing that he had. Time. Twenty-one days to be exact. More if he played his cards right.

 **DAY 2**

There was only one way to figure out what time it was. They had both set the time and date on their handheld diary cameras before leaving New York. Without setting up a primitive sundial (and really they didn't need to) it was the best way to stay oriented throughout the day. The camera crew made sure that the batteries on their cameras were always charged.

Rick had finally fallen asleep close to dawn so it was Kate who woke up first on day two. She was relieved to see that her partner's more intimate parts were not on display. He had strategically placed his bag there to protect himself from bugs and thankfully it hadn't shifted off its mark. She was definitely feeling the effects of not having anything to drink in twenty-four hours. Her first attempt to stand up was met by dizziness that forced her back down to a seated position. Using the evidence before her – Castle drank the water yesterday several times and did not get sick (surely he would have woken up if he was experiencing any intense stomach cramping) – Kate reasoned that it was safe to drink the water. Or at least it was a risk she was more willing to take.

He was right, it tasted like fish, but it wasn't awful and she really needed to hydrate herself. Still, she forced herself to only drink a small amount. Better not to drink too much just in case. Kate recalled an episode where both of the survivalists drank from the same water source and only one of them got sick. _Leave it to me to be stranded with Richard Castle on an island and end up with explosive diarrhea. On television._

Kate didn't want to disturb her partner by working on the shelter, but she wanted to do something useful with her time so she considered the possible food sources. There should be fish, of course, in the blue hole. There was also that wild boar that might still be nearby. She decided to use her machete to sharpen a few sticks to make spears for fishing. Kate was on her third stick when she felt the presence of someone else creeping up behind her.

"Good morning, Rick." Kate said without even turning to make eye contact.

"I guess there's no sneaking up on you."

"Were you trying to sneak up on me?" Kate turned and shot Rick some eye daggers that sent a clear message: _Don't sneak up on me. Ever._

"And good morning to you too, Detective." More eye daggers. Kate was definitely not noticing how cute he looked with sleep-mussed hair and she was most definitely not overcompensating for her feelings of attraction by acting extra annoyed with her partner who, in his defense, had not done a single annoying thing. Yet.

"Nice of you to join me today. I was starting to think you were going to sleep all day."

"Someone woke up on the wrong side of the hut this morning." Kate didn't mean to come across as a bitch and she cringed inwardly when she realized how she must have sounded.

"Sorry, didn't mean to snap at you. I'm really hungry and I think it's put me in quite a bad mood. I'll try not to take it out on you." As if on cue, Kate's stomach started to rumble. She really hoped that the rumble was from her hunger and not her body rejecting the water she had consumed about an hour earlier.

"Well then, let's feed you. Did you have anything to drink yet?"

"Yeah, I had some of the surface water this morning."

"Oh no, Kate! You shouldn't have done that!" Kate's eyes went as wide as saucers when Rick started clutching at his stomach.

"But you weren't sick! Were you?!" Had he hidden it from her? Rick's eyes crinkled as his whole face broke in a wide smile and he started laughing.

"You're so easy, Kate. Don't worry, I'm fine, the water's fine. I'm glad you hydrated yourself." Kate's heartbeat slowed. So, he's a joker, is he? Well, two can play at that. She walked over to the writer, got right in his face and whispered right into his left ear.

"You think I'm easy, Rick?" He stopped laughing immediately and started sputtering an apology. Kate reached up and grabbed his left ear with her right hand and gave it a sharp twist.

"Ouch, ouch, ouch! Apples! My safe word is apples!"

"Payback's a bitch, and this isn't your payback. I'd sleep with one eye open, partner." Kate released Rick's ear and slapped him on the chest. "Safe word noted." And with that she spun around, went right back to her spot sitting on a nearby rock and resumed making her fishing spears. Rick watched her for a few minutes while he tried to calm his racing heartbeat. This woman, wow, she was extraordinary.

"So, um, what's that you're working on over there?" For a best-selling author, Rick was sure having trouble stringing together a simple sentence. In response Kate held out one of the freshly sharpened spears.

"How are your fishing skills?"

Turned out they both sucked at fishing. Neither could find a single fish worth catching. The blue hole seemed to be overrun with minnows, but nothing big enough for even a tiny snack. Two hours into their fish hunt and they both came up empty handed.

"This thing must be full of ninja fish. It's impossible for there to be no fish here. We're on the third largest barrier reef in the world."

"Ninja fish? Really, Rick? I'm not surprised. The poor water circulation in the blue holes makes it a difficult environment to sustain life. We'd have more luck finding fish close to the beach." Kate pulled the map out of her bag and pointed to the nearest shore. It was at least five miles away. They had made the decision to camp inland and now she was having second thoughts.

"How about land crabs? I'm pretty sure I saw some promising looking holes. Maybe we can just take your pointy sticks and try to stab something in those holes." He sort of pantomimed this motion in a way that made Kate laugh.

"Sure, just take your pointy stick and shove it down the hole, Rick."

"Well when you say it, it just sounds so dirty." Kate tried, unsuccessfully, to stop laughing and shoved him in the shoulder, hard.

"Get your mind out of the gutter and go get me some crabs. With your pointy stick."

"Oooo, bossy, I like it!" Kate just rolled her eyes and started scanning the ground for holes. Land crabs live in a network of holes near bodies of water. The hole leading down from the surface usually angled down into a larger den.

"Rick, over here, I think I found something." Kate was kneeling next to what she hoped was a land crab hole. She leaned over and peered into it. "I think I see something." Kate held a finger up to her mouth signaling that Rick should approach quietly. When he came over she motioned for him to look in the hole. He nodded and leaned down to have a look. After seeing what he agreed was most likely a crab, he took one of Kate's spears and jammed it down there as hard as he could.

"I think I hit it, or I've got it lodged under him."

"Try to leverage the stick upwards and force him out of the hole backwards." Rick did just as Kate suggested and slowly lifted the crab out of the hole. When it was close to the surface Kate reached in and grabbed the crab by it's thick midsection and pulled him straight out. "Got him!"

Rick just sort of stood there not knowing what to do, but wanting to help so he reached out to take the crab from Kate. Instead of passing the crab over she smashed it down onto a nearby rock, cracked it clear in half and started cleaning out the crab guts with almost surgical precision. When it was clean enough to her liking, she rinsed the crab in the fresh water layer of the blue hole, stuck a spear through the middle and walked it over to the fire.

"Have you done this before?" Rick sat down next to her as they waited for their first meal to cook.

"I've gone crabbing before, with my parents. I was a teenager though, and my dad did all the cleaning. I watched him enough times to remember how to do it though."

"Thank you, Kate. This is going to be great, especially if we can catch some more crabs as easily as we caught this one."

"It was a team effort, you helped me catch it." Kate was being nice, but Rick had a feeling that she could catch crabs all day long by herself without any need for him. Or anyone else for that matter.

"It's a good thing that there aren't any Manchineel trees nearby, otherwise it wouldn't be safe to eat this crab." Castle had done extensive research about plant and animal life in the Bahamas when he found out the location of the island that he would be stranded on. The Manchineel tree is considered the world's most dangerous tree because every part of it – bark, sap, leaves, green apple-like fruit that it bears – is poisonous.

"They tend to be close the shore, I haven't seen any either. What does that have to do with the crabs?"

"Land crabs are scavengers and they only eat what's near their burrows, which would include Manchineel leaves if there were any trees nearby. The trees aren't poisonous to the crabs, but they are to us. If this crab had eaten any of those leaves recently then we are at risk of being poisoned by anything that wasn't fully digested. You did a fantastically thorough job of cleaning it, but it's still a big risk. But since there aren't any Manchineel trees near us, we should be fine."

"Huh. I never thought of that. Thanks, Rick, glad you did your research."

"It's kind of what I do."

"Research? Are you a college professor? Scientist?" Kate knew very well that he was neither of those things, but wasn't ready to tell him she knew who he was. She wondered if he would just come out and tell her.

"No and no. Any other guesses, Detective?"

"I have some ideas, but I'm working on gathering more evidence. I'll let you know how the clues line up once I've been able to piece them together."

"Or you could, you know, just ask me. I'm a pretty open book." He put a little more emphasis on the word "book".

"Crab should be done now, would you like the first bite?" Kate ripped off one of the crab's legs and held it out to the writer.

"Oh no, ladies first, I insist." Kate ripped off a second leg and placed it in Rick's hand.

"We can both have the first bite." Kate held out her leg as if to toast the meal. "To our first meal together." Rick held his leg up and they clinked them together ceremoniously before they both dug in, ripping the shells off to get to the hard-earned meat inside.

"The first of many!" Rick responded as they sunk their teeth into their first bite of food in over 24 hours. They continued to devour the crab until every ounce of meat had been stripped from the shell. Kate imagined that someone like Richard Castle was used to fine dining and gourmet meals. She wondered how he made this one bland, unseasoned crab sound like the best meal he'd ever tasted. Kate, on the other hand, was used to skipping meals and eating take-out pretty much every night. Food just wasn't a priority for her and she didn't put much thought into what she ate. This crab tasted just as good as anything else she might have had if she were at home instead of on the island. All the same, she got as much enjoyment out of the meal as she did watching her partner enjoy his meal.

"That was the best crab I ever tasted!" Rick exclaimed when they were done, patting his belly as if it were full (which it most definitely wasn't).

"Really? Best crab ever? Surely you've had better in a restaurant."

"It has something to do with the ambiance, my hunger, and my current company, of course." Kate ducked her head to hide the traitorous blush that was surely creeping up her neck to her face.

"Think we can catch some more?" It wasn't like they had anything else to do.

Rick and Kate were able to catch two more crabs on the second day. They also spent a few hours improving their shelter, adding more protection to the roof and trying to cushion the ground a little bit more. Day 2 had been a success. The wild boar did not make an appearance that second night and both writer and detective slept soundly with no interruptions. She might have shifted towards him in the night and he might have unintentionally spooned her, but only the camera footage would tell that story.

* * *

 **AN: To answer the question in one of the reviews from the last chapter, yes sometimes the contestants do make clothes out of leaves or whatever else is around of them. A few of them possess some pretty impressive weaving skills and make all kinds of things (hats, clothes, a ladder!). One dude brought duct tape as his survival item and he made a bikini for the girl. It wasn't a very good one because she still needed stuff blurred out for the camera and it looked rather sloppy. So far, in my AU, Rick and Kate are still naked. They both try to keep their bags covering their lower frontal bits. Also - forgot to mention last time, but I was super excited to receive my first French review! Merci!**


	5. Chapter 5

**DAY 3**

Kate woke up covered in bites. The gnats were tolerable the first night, but the second night they must have invited all of their friends over for a party because she was an absolute mess. Rick was covered in bites too, but for some reason he wasn't nearly as bad as Kate. Kate swung her hair over one shoulder so that her back was visible. "How bad is it?" Rick reached out to run his hand gently over her skin, which was peppered with tiny red dots. About 6 per square inch, he guessed. This was the first time he had really touched her since shaking her hand on day one and she decided that his touch was quite nice. Quite nice indeed.

"You look like you were somebody's midnight snack, and not the good kind." He continued to trace his hands over the bumps on her back, lightly massaging her as he did.

"Whatever you're doing, Rick, that feels amazing."

"You'd be surprised what I can do with these hands. I work with my hands, you know."

"Ah yes, another clue. Mmmmm that feels good." Kate allowed herself to sink into his magical touch and let him do whatever it was that he was doing. He was only touching her back and she wondered how it would feel if she let him massage her entire body. Just as her thoughts began to wander she felt one of his hands wrap around the side of her body and one of his fingertips brushed against her boob.

"Oh gosh, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to, honest – I swear!" The author had lept about three feet away from her with both hands in the air and he was looking at the offending finger like it was some sort of traitor.

"Calm down, Rick, it's OK. You look like you just touched a venomous snake. I know you didn't mean to graze my boob." Who would have thought that millionaire playboy Richard Castle was such a gentleman. The guy she saw on page six would have touched her boobs on purpose and tried to use it as a segue into more, well, touching.

"I'm sorry, Kate, I just don't want you to get the wrong idea." Kate raised an eyebrow. "I mean not that I don't _want_ to touch your – uh, you have very nice – oh shit I'm not very good at this." Rick sat down on a nearby rock and put his head in his hands.

"It's OK, I'm not offended, Rick. Whatever you were doing back there really took my mind off of these horribly itchy insect bites. I forgive your clearly accidental boob touching. It _was_ accidental, right?" He nodded, not fully trusting himself to speak. "Great, so tell me something."

"Yes?"

"How is it that I'm completely covered in these bites and you barely have any?"

"No idea, but if they run out of space on you then I'm sure they will be moving on to me tonight." Rick's prediction proved to be true as they both woke up covered in bites the next day.

* * *

 **DAY 4**

Rick and Kate worked well together. There really wasn't a whole lot for them to do so they spent their days trying to gather food and exploring the island. By the fourth day their feet were so torn up that Kate didn't even want to walk the ten feet it would take to get from their shelter to the water for a drink. The fact that she was covered in bug bites and hungry probably didn't help.

Rick was getting pretty good at reading his partner's moods. He knew when it was OK to be chatty and when to give her some space. On the morning of day four Kate was definitely giving off a "stay away from me" vibe. They had a regular morning routine by now: wake up, drink some water, go do their private business in the woods (each had a spot that they went to and, by some unspoken agreement, they did not discuss), wait for the other person to wake up if one woke up before the other and then look for crabs.

In addition to crabs they had also found some coconut bearing palm trees, but it was rather difficult to get to the coconuts. Rick had discovered them on day three during one of his exploration walks. Luckily, two had fallen on the ground so he scooped them up and brought them back to Kate like an excited puppy retrieving a buried bone. Kate had to listen to a long, drawn-out story of his coconut finding adventure before he presented them to her, but she only feigned her annoyance. She found his voice soothing and didn't mind listening to him speak. Kate used her machete to split one coconut in half – first cracking it to pour out the liquid inside and then splitting it completely in half to get to the meat. They decided to save the second coconut for another day.

Rick was hoping to take Kate for a walk to see his coconut tree, but observing her sitting silently inside the shelter with a frown pressed into her lips, he knew that he should probably leave her alone for a couple hours. Kate was massaging her feet and examining the many cuts and bruises on them. Rick knew how she felt because his feet were hurting as well. It turned out that his barefoot outings in Central Park had actually paid off because his feet weren't nearly as bad as his partner's. Kate didn't even look at him when Rick called out to tell her that he was going to take a walk. If it weren't for the slight nod of her head, he wouldn't have even been sure that she heard him.

Kate did not like feeling weak and she especially did not like feeling this weak only four days into the three-week challenge. She was hungry and tired, but mostly hungry. Her feet hurt and her body was covered in hundreds of insect bites. She made a mental note to ask Rick if the gnats on the island carried any diseases that she should be worried about. He seemed to be a bottomless pit of both useful and useless information so she was sure he'd have come across it in the "research" that he did before coming on the show. The saltwater in the blue hole was theoretically good for her sore feet, but it stung like hell. Kate Beckett did not sit around feeling miserable, Kate Beckett got shit done. Naked, hungry, chewed to pieces by insects and rocky terrain - Kate Beckett felt defeated.

Then there was Richard Castle. Never in a million years did she think she would ever hang out with Richard Castle or see him in any kind of situation outside of a book signing. She had fallen in love with his books before her mother was murdered; it was something they had in common. Johanna Becket had loved reading mysteries and Richard Castle was her favorite author. Young Kate Beckett had started reading his earlier books when she was a teenager and after her mother died she clung to every new release like it was a lifeline, keeping their connection strong, even in death.

On her yearly visits to her mother's gravesite, Kate would tell her about whatever Richard Castle book had come out that year. She always preordered them and read them each several times. In between the release of Derek Storm books Kate would revisit his earlier novels, the ones that her mother had been able to read. They were literally the same books that Johanna had read, complete with post-it notes scattered throughout. She didn't like writing in the books, but used post-its to mark the things she wanted to discuss with Kate.

Now, here she was in this incredible surreal situation. Kate wasn't exactly a fan girl, but she was a registered member of Richard Castle's official website and message board. She rarely posted, but checked in at least once a month to read the latest news about book release dates and other various things. Some of those other various things included news clippings from page six of the New York Ledger. She wondered, now that she knew the man fairly well, how much of those news articles were true. Did he really date that many women? Was it just a show for the cameras? The man clearly loved his daughter and placed her as his number one priority, so it made no sense that he would parade a string of women around in front of her.

Kate wondered how many of his fans were fans of the Richard Castle image instead of his work. It was clear from the message boards that quite a few of the fan girls saw him merely as eye candy to drool over and didn't even read his books. She smiled thinking about how jealous those women will be of her when this show airs on television. Oh God, this show was going to air on television! Kate wasn't a shallow woman, but she suddenly found herself wishing that she had brought some make-up as her survival item. Then she mentally slapped herself for being so ridiculous.

Kate had already figured out how Rick got on the show and that it had more to do with his celebrity than his qualifications. He clearly was not an experienced survivalist. She doubted he ever spent more time in the wilderness than an occasional camping trip with his daughter, and she had a feeling that his camping trips probably included fancy tents, air mattresses and all kinds of modern gadgets. When he mentioned that he did a lot of research she reasoned that being on the show was part of his research. Kate had read on his website about how he liked to do real life research for his books. It appeared that Derek Storm would be spending some time marooned on a deserted island in the next book.

At first she was annoyed that she was given a partner with so little experience, but he had already proven himself ten times over. He was a wealth of information and exhibited an almost child-like excitement when he was able to apply his knowledge to real life situations. They were very compatible and their skill sets were a good match. If it weren't for the constant hunger and the situation with the bugs, she'd even go so far as to say that she was enjoying her time on the Island of Andros.

* * *

Rick was gone about two-and-a-half hours. He had gone back to the palm trees that he had found the day before and used the palm fronds to make Kate a present. Part of his research included watching a day's worth of videos on crafting things from plants. Quite a few of them involved weaving with palm fronds. He was excited to test out his weaving skills and even more excited to make something for his partner, something that would hopefully bring a smile to her face.

Kate was quite beautiful when she smiled. Four days in and Rick was seriously falling for this woman. He didn't want to blow it by making a move on her in this situation, so he kept his metaphorical distance. Being turned down would be humiliating for him and embarrassing for both of them. It would make the remaining seventeen days extremely awkward. He decided, instead, to show her he cared by focusing on her happiness and comfort. Making her smile made his day. Seeing her happy made him happy, which made their current situation quite bearable. Spending time with Kate definitely dulled the constant hunger pangs.

As Rick approached their little temporary home by the blue hole, he spotted Kate in the same spot she was in when he left. She looked deep in thought, but as he grew nearer her head slowly turned toward him. Kate looked his way and smiled. Her smile was infectious and he found himself smiling back at her.

"Happy to see me, Detective?"

"That depends, what did you bring me?" Kate did not see anything in Rick's hands so she reasoned that whatever he brought back must be in his bag. When he reached the shelter and sat down next to her, Kate reached for his bag.

"Uh uh, no peeking! I worked hard on this present so you have to let me give it to you. There's a story first."

"There's always a story first with you." Kate rolled her eyes at the writer, but she didn't really mind. He could have brought her back a rock for all she cared. He was a thoughtful man and she would listen to whatever story he had to tell before she received her mystery present. After all, he was her favorite storyteller.

* * *

 **AN: I keep getting the same question so I'll answer it here - my story summary is a direct quote from the show Naked & Afraid. It's the introduction, the voice over that you hear at the beginning of the episode. Yes, it's clear that Rick is not an experienced survivalist but Paula was able to talk him onto the show (and I talked a little about that in this chapter). Each contestant on the real show is given a PSR (Primitive Survival Rating) at the beginning, before the 21 days. It's based on their previous experience, or lack thereof. I plan on incorporating the PSR into my story once their 21 days are up, at which point they are given a new score based on how well they did. I highly recommend watching an episode of N&A, they usually have marathons on the Discovery Channel. The nudity is not exploited at all, it really just adds a layer of authenticity to the survival mission. I urge you to watch it before you judge it. They just premiered a new version of the show called Naked and Afraid XL that takes 12 previous contestants and puts all of them somewhere for 40 days. I wasn't able to see it because I'm not going to be home for another month and where I am has very limited cable (no discovery channel). Also thank you to the reviewer who suggested that Rick make a present for Kate. I originally planned to have Kate make it herself (you'll find out what "it" is in the next chapter) but your review inspired me to have Rick make it for her instead and I think it works better in the story so THANK YOU! :)**


	6. Chapter 6

Turns out it was a short story. Rick made a big production out of the various kinds of plants and trees that produced foliage suitable for weaving. He skipped over the part where he found the coconut bearing palms (probably only because he had described that in detail the day before) and went straight to the point, for once. After explaining how palm fronds offered the best material for weaving he reached into his bag to present Kate with her handmade gift.

"Any last guesses before I show you your present, Detective?"

"Did you weave me a bikini?"

"Nope, but I could work on that next if you'd like."

"I'd guess a sun hat, but that would be too big to fit in your bag. I'm too tired to guess and the suspense is killing me." Rick was really enjoying the process of presenting his gift so Kate tried her best to appear excited. Truth be told, she kind of was excited. Richard Castle made her a gift and she couldn't wait to see it.

Rick reached into his bag and pulled out 2 sets of long oval shaped objects. Kate looked a little confused. They looked like oddly shaped ping pong paddles.

"Shoes, Kate! I made us each a pair of woven sandals!" Kate reached out to accept her pair and turned them over in her hands, trying to figure out how she was supposed to put them on. "Here, let me show you how they work." Rick grabbed one of her feet and began wrapping around the woven straps until the sandal was securely tied to her foot. Then he attached the other one.

"Wow, thanks, this is really impressive." Without thinking, Kate leaned over and pressed a kiss to Rick's cheek.

"I'll weave you an entire wardrobe if it will get me more kisses like that." Kate blushed and Rick started to put his own pair of shoes on. He had worn them for most of the trek back to their camp, but took them off just before he got there so it wouldn't spoil the surprise.

"Now that I've got this fabulous footwear, how about you take me to see those coconut palms I've been hearing so much about?"

* * *

The shoes turned out to be exactly what Kate needed and she was able to walk with almost no pain. The best part was that it was easy to move the straps to a slightly different configuration if they started rubbing too much in one spot. Kate's mood did a complete 180 and she was smiling and chatting with her partner the entire time they were exploring the island. Rick was happy because Kate was happy. Making her smile was more satisfying than a three-course meal. He felt like he could survive these twenty-one days on Kate's smile alone.

They found another three coconuts and brought back as many palm fronds as they could carry. Once back at their camp by the blue hole, Rick showed Kate his weaving techniques and they managed to make a few more items. Kate was even able to make a bandeau style top to cover her chest, which was a relief for both of them. Rick thought she was beautiful, of course, but he had to repeat in his head, "Don't stare at Kate's boobs" about a hundred times a day. She was still beautiful to look at, but now the only place he might be caught staring (the burlap sac did nothing to cover Kate's extremely attractive and perfectly formed rear end) was something he could only see when Kate wasn't facing him. It was much harder to get caught staring when she couldn't see him staring. Although Kate seemed to have a sixth sense about that so he still had to watch himself.

They used the largest of the palm fronds to make a mat to sleep on. They had covered the uneven ground with the foliage that could be found close to the blue hole, but the palm mat would make a much more comfortable mat to sleep on. The mat was big, but not quite big enough for two adults that were still trying to sleep with a respectable distance between them. Rick, ever the gentleman, insisted that Kate take the mat that night. She agreed, but only on the condition that they would make a second mat the next day.

"This reminds me of the movie Titanic." Kate said to Rick as they lay side-by-side in the shelter that night. Rick thought about what she said for a second and then let out a soft chuckle.

"It's OK, Kate. I'm not going to die because I'm not on that mat with you. I survived just fine the last three nights."

"I know, but this mat is so much more comfortable. I feel guilty being the only one sleeping on it. We made it together so it doesn't seem right that we can't both enjoy the comfort."

"I'll sleep better knowing that you're more comfortable. So it's a win-win situation."

"Thanks, Rick."

"Always."

* * *

 **DAY 5**

Rick woke up to some very loud scratching noises. At least they seemed loud because they were happening right next to him. Kate was covered in more bug bites, if that was even possible. He realized, looking down at his own body, that he wasn't much better off either.

"Try not to scratch, Kate, it will be worse in the long run."

"Why thank you, Captain Obvious."

"And good morning to you too, Detective." Kate's eyes softened in apology and Rick shook his head as if to say 'don't worry about it'. They were getting very good at non-verbal communication.

"We need to do something about these bugs, I really don't think I can take any more of this and I refuse to tap out over bug bites. At this rate I'm not going to have any more skin for the bugs to bite."

"There is something we can try." Rick said with confidence.

"I'm open to anything at this point."

"Are we still talking about the bugs?" That earned him a swat to the shoulder. "Ouch! You're strong for a - "

"Better not finish that sentence unless you want to find out how strong I really am!"

"I was going to say – strong for a person who hasn't eaten properly in five days. Sheesh, Kate, have a little faith."

"Sorry, continue please. The bugs?" Kate's voice softened, encouraging her partner to continue with his suggestion.

"I read that the smoke created from burning a termite mound will keep other bugs away. I'm pretty sure there's a termite mound in that fallen tree over there," Rick pointed to said tree, "so we can try that tonight. But really the best solution would be to move our camp."

"There's not much else out here, unless you mean move out to the beach by the ocean?"

"That's exactly what I mean. This blue hole is a bust. Sure we can drink from it, but there's no fish in there, at least none we can see or catch. We have to walk further and further every day to find new crab holes and I think we already exhausted the coconut supply. Heading out to the beach gives us more options."

"I don't know, Rick, we'd have to build a new shelter."

"We're great at building shelters! Don't take this the wrong way, Kate, but your skin looks awful. I'm getting itchy just looking at you. Well even more itchy than I already am because of the bites that I have too."

"I guess you're right. How about we give it one more night. See if your termite burning solution works?"

"Deal!" He held out his hand and they shook on it.

* * *

 **DAY 6**

It didn't work. Burning a termite mound gave them a project and something to do, but it did nothing to keep the bugs away. It was becoming unbearable for both of them, but especially Kate who seemed to be the gnats' meal of choice.

"I wonder why the bugs are more interested in me. There's more of you to eat; I don't understand why I'm the bigger target." Kate was miserable. On the upside, she was so focused on her bug bitten skin that her hunger took a back seat.

"If I were a bug and I had to choose, I'd definitely want to eat you." Rick said with a little bit of flirtation in his voice.

"Uh thanks, I think."

"Kate, could it be because you have your, uh, because it's that time of month where you, uh do you - ?" Rick was turning red trying to figure out how to ask Kate a very personal question that could explain why the bugs were more interested in her.

"Are you trying to ask me if I have my period right now?" Rick nodded, face still red. "The answer is no. And considering I wouldn't be able to do anything about it, I think you'd know if I did."

It was an uncomfortable subject that neither of them wanted to talk about, but it was certainly relevant considering that they were going to be on that island for three weeks. Monthly cycles lasted about twenty-eight days so female contestants on the show often had to suffer through menstruation without any tampons or pads.

"Sorry, just it could have explained why the bugs are so into you, plus you do have some pretty intense mood swings."

"Watch it Rick, don't make me do something that makes you use your safe word!"

"And you just proved my point." He ducked as if waiting for Kate to hit him or something, but instead she just smiled and shook her head.

"You don't have to worry." Kate had put a lot of thought into this when she had agreed to be on the show, but she was surprised to learn that Rick had given it some thought as well. He seemed to be very empathetic, which could be explained by the fact that he was a single dad to a teenage girl.

"What, about you hurting me? I remember a certain brunette on this island warning me to sleep with one eye open."

"No, not about that. You can still worry about that. I mean about my period. I had just finished a couple days before our first day here and my cycles tend to be pretty long. I'll probably even skip a month due to the weight I'm losing from not eating."

"You say this like it's something that happens all the time."

"Well like I said, I'm kind of a workaholic. If we're working on a tough case I tend to get distracted and don't always remember to eat. But I guess that's really good preparation for something like this, right?"

 _Oh, Kate._

"When we get back to New York I'm going to make sure you never skip a meal." He wasn't joking and Kate could feel the compassion in his expression and voice.

"And how exactly are you going to do that?"

"I'll call you, text you, bring you food if I have to."

"That presumes two things – one, that I'll give you my phone number; and two, that you'll have the time to check on me."

"My work hours are very flexible, I can take breaks whenever I need to."

"Ah yes, another clue. You're also presuming that we'll stay in touch once this is over."

"Think of what we've already been though and it hasn't even been a full week yet. I'd say you've got yourself a friend for life, Kate." He smiled one of his really genuine smiles, the kind that made Kate light up from the inside out. For all his playfulness and joking, he was also very genuine and caring.

"Yeah, I guess I do."

* * *

 **AN: Titanic is one of my favorite movies of all time, but it always bugged me that Rose didn't move over and let Jack onto her floating door, or whatever that thing was that she was floating on. There was room for two! One more thing to explain about N &A if you haven't seen it. "Tapping out" is the term they give to someone who chooses to end the challenge and go home. You always have the option to stop. Sometimes it's a medical necessity, but I don't plan on putting Rick and Kate in any real danger. Or will I?**


	7. Chapter 7

They agreed that night number six would be their last night at their blue hole camp and decided they would leave the next day. The bugs were unbearable, the fish were nonexistent, the crabs were getting harder and harder to find and that mysterious wild board had not made another appearance since the first night. It was time to move on.

Kate spent the morning rubbing mud all over her bug-bitten body. She had started this ritual on day four; it would help ease the itching at first, but then the mud would dry and it would start to feel itchy again. Then she'd wash it off in the blue hole and start all over again. At this point she was ready to try sleeping in the mud because she couldn't stand even one more night of this.

They studied the map and chose the route they would take the next day. It appeared to be the shortest distance from blue hole to shore, but appearances could be deceiving. They weren't sure what obstacles awaited them so they spent their final day weaving an extra pair of shoes for each of them. The original pairs were already starting to fall apart, which was upsetting to Kate because she had an emotional attachment to her pair. _Richard Castle made me shoes!_ It was something she wanted to keep after all this was over, but it now seemed like she'd be saving a crumbled mess of browning palm.

Just before sunset, Kate washed off her last layer of mud. She abandoned her plans to sleep in it because she was too embarrassed to sleep next to Rick all covered in mud. They had this magnetic pull that drew them together when they slept. She had woken several times in the middle of the night to find that they were touching in one way or another. Sometimes they were just holding hands as they lay side-by-side, sometimes it was his arm draped over her side. At least once it was a full on spooning and she woke with his head nuzzled into her neck and his body flush against her back. Thank goodness for that burlap sack that he always kept covering his, well… yeah.

They never talked about it and one of them always woke before the other so they continued to pretend as if it wasn't happening. Kate wasn't even sure it meant anything. After all, it was a perfectly normal subconscious reaction to seek warmth and comfort from the person sleeping next to you. Especially considering they were sleeping outside and didn't have any sheets or blankets to cuddle up with. It was only natural that they would gravitate towards each other at night. Rick, on the other hand, was hoping that it meant everything.

As the sun was setting on their sixth night, they sat by the fire eating the crabs that they had caught in the afternoon. They knew they wouldn't have time to catch crabs in the morning so they wanted to eat as much protein as they could the night before their hike out to the beach. One crab each was going to have to do, they would save their last coconut for breakfast.

"So tell me Kate, what are you going to miss about this place when we leave tomorrow?"

"What makes you think that I'll miss anything here?"

"Come on, there's got to be something positive about our time spent here."

 _Well yeah_ , Kate thought, _but it has nothing to do with the location. More the company that I'm with._

"Like what?" Kate tossed the question back at the writer.

"I'm going to miss our cozy little shelter. We did a nice job setting it up, but at least we can bring the mats with us."

"Our next shelter will be even better. Practice makes perfect, right?"

"See, that's the optimism I'm looking for! So your turn now, what are you going to miss?"

"The blue hole is pretty beautiful. It may not have given us any fish, but it provided us with water and I'm going to miss seeing it every day."

"Beautiful, yes, but also dangerous." Rick lowered his voice and leaned towards the fire so it cast an ominous glow across his face when he said the word 'dangerous'.

"How on earth is it dangerous?" Kate was mildly intrigued.

"Well, I didn't want to say anything to scare you, but considering we're moving tomorrow…" Rick let his voice trail off as he looked into the distance.

"Say anything about what?" Kate was leaning forward with anticipation.

"You've heard of Bigfoot, the Loch Ness Monster, el Chupacabra… but have you ever heard of the Lusca?" Kate shook her head, eyes wide, her expression urging him to go on.

"The blue holes are largely undiscovered territory. Less than one percent of them have been properly explored. Hidden underneath all that beauty is a series of intricate caves and passages that branch off into all directions for thousands of feet. The Lusca lives down there, traveling through those passages."

"What does it look like?"

"Imagine a creature with the head of a shark, rows of razor sharp teeth, and the body of an octopus that can reach sizes of over seventy-five feet in length." He paused for dramatic effect.

"I'm not twelve years old, Rick. You're not going to scare me with your ghost stories." Kate was lying, she was a little bit scared, but she also knew that this was Richard Castle and she thought there was more than a fifty percent chance that this "Lusca" was a pile of bullshit.

"I'm not making this up, I promise! I have been known to tell a good ghost story, true, but this isn't my work of fiction. I'm not saying that the creature is real, just that there have been rumors and sightings."

"OK, please continue."

"They say that the Lusca lives in the blue hole caves during the day and comes out to hunt at night. Picture it like a scene from Jaws: an unsuspecting swimmer goes out for an evening swim when BAM, the Lusca rises from beneath and snatches them, dragging them down with such speed that the only thing left is a small circle of bubbling water." Rick was visually demonstrating this by using a crab leg as the "swimmer" and then his hand (Lusca) reaching up underneath to grab the crab leg and shaking it all around before stuffing it in his mouth for effect.

"The victims are taken back into the underwater caves to feed on and the swimmer is never seen again." Rick held up the crab shell from his "swimmer" and tossed it over his shoulder. "There have been many reports of missing swimmers and cave divers with no explanation, no clues left behind."

"And suddenly I'm looking forward to leaving this place tomorrow." Kate was now staring at the calm water of the blue hole wanting to never ever go for a swim in it again. Rick followed her gaze and the two of them watched in silence for a few minutes.

Suddenly, as if on cue, the water rippled about thirty feet out and something surfaced. Kate let out a small scream and reflexively jumped back towards Rick, practically landing in his lap. He reached up to put his hands on her shoulders and he could feel her racing heartbeat as he rubbed soft circles on her back with his thumbs, trying to calm her down. She didn't stay there, _unfortunately_ – thought Rick; as soon as she calmed down she scooted over to put some distance between them.

"Wow, I did not expect that." Rick would be lying if he said that he wasn't a bit scared himself. The story was not his own, he had come across the legend of the Lusca in his research on the Bahamas. He had kept the story to himself for fear of scaring his partner and he was starting to think that he should have saved the story for one more night. Made sure they had safely left this place first.

"What. The fuck. Was that? Please tell me that your Lusca doesn't also come up on land to snatch its prey."

"Well not usually, our shelter is far enough away from the shore, we should be safe. Plus the Lusca is attracted to noise – like loud noise from a boat kind of noise. We aren't nearly noisy enough to attract it. Although it has been known to snatch entire boats out of the water and drag them down to the caves."

"Not helping, Rick. How about a theory on what exactly we just saw out there? It was too big to be a fish."

"There are some large animals in the blue holes. Could have been something like a sea turtle or a nurse shark. They hunt near the surface at night. They've probably been out every night and we just haven't been paying attention." That explanation was enough to calm Kate's racing heart. She lowered her head and let out a nervous laugh.

"I'm not usually so skittish. You should see me at work apprehending a suspect. I can take down criminals three times my size in four-inch heels without batting an eye, or breaking a nail. Can you believe it?" The mental image that Rick conjured up made him shift his bag to make sure certain things were properly concealed.

"Um yeah, I can believe it." Thankfully Kate was still staring out at the water because he couldn't take his eyes off of her.

"And yet you have the power to turn me into a quivering mess with just your words." Kate turned to look at Rick and their eyes locked. She expected to see a triumphant grin on his face, but what she saw instead made her heart start to race again for an entirely different reason. Rick reached out and cupped her face with his right hand. Her eyes closed of their own volition as she leaned into his touch. His thumb traced under her eye, down her cheek and just barely grazed her lips.

And then his hand was gone. Kate missed the contact immediately and opened her eyes to see what had happened. Rick was still looking at her, but both his hands were in his lap. They were only inches apart.

"Sorry," Rick said quietly. Kate was unsure if he was apologizing for telling the story or for what just happened. Either way, she wanted to reassure him that she was OK so she reached out and gave his hand a quick squeeze. He looked up and she gave him a small smile before letting his hand go.

"The Lusca wouldn't be interested in me anyways. The gnats already called dibs so I'd just be sloppy seconds." That broke the tension and they both laughed.

"No way, Kate. You couldn't be anybody's sloppy seconds."

After they both finished their crabs, Rick started burning another termite mound. He figured they had nothing to lose so they might as well try it again. This mound was bigger than the previous night's so there was a chance it would work better this time. They were both quiet as they watched it burn, deep in thought and happy to just enjoy the silence together.

Soon enough they were lying side-by-side in their shelter for what would be the last time. They now had two large mats so they were equally comfortable. As Kate drifted off to sleep she heard her partner move closer to her. The last thing she felt was his hand wrapping gently around her hand.

* * *

 **AN: I threw in the bit about the mud because of that one guest review... I've seen it on other episodes, usually to protect** **from sun instead of bugs, but it sounded like a good idea so thanks! I'm going by my memory of this particular episode (keep in mind it's been about six months since I've seen it) and I don't remember them doing anything about the bugs except complain - and eventually move out to the beach. The story about the Lusca came up in my own research, it was not mentioned on the show. Google some images if you're curious about what it looks like. Lets just say I would think twice about going for a swim in one of those blue holes. Thank you for every view, favorite, follow and review :)**


	8. Chapter 8

It rained that night. Their last night at the blue hole was the first night that it rained. Their shelter kept them pretty dry and the temperature didn't get too low so it wasn't a huge deal. In fact, they were hoping that the rainwater gathered somewhere near their new camp so that they would be able to find a source of drinking water.

 **DAY 7**

On the last day of their first week, Rick and Kate left the blue hole. Walking to the beach took about six hours total as they took their time, moving along carefully and stopping often to rest. They both carried their large woven mats and recycled coconuts that they had saved and refilled with water for the long journey.

It was nearly 3pm by the time they reached the beach. The first thing they noticed was the vast amount of garbage that littered the otherwise beautiful shoreline. Tattered cloth, beer cans, bottles, plastic, pieces of Styrofoam, food wrappers… it was really depressing to see.

"Where does this all come from?" Rick wondered out loud.

"The ocean current washes it ashore. People litter into the ocean and it all has to end up somewhere. There's even a giant garbage patch in the Pacific where marine debris swirls around like a trash vortex. It's created by a combination of currents and wind patterns." Kate explained as she picked through some of the tattered cloth, looking for something that could be usable.

"So all the people who don't give a hoot and pollute caused all this?" Rick asked, recalling a TV ad from the seventies or eighties.

"I guess they didn't listen to Woodsy Owl." Rick beamed, impressed that she knew what he was talking about.

They spent the next hour looking through all the garbage and picking out items that could be useful. Rick found a few glass bottles that they could use to boil water and Kate found a tattered t-shirt that she was able to fashion into a skirt. She stepped right into the stretched out neck-hole and rolled it down until it seemed secure. There were holes all over it, but it was still a huge improvement over nothing.

Exhausted as they were, they had to get to work building a new shelter before nightfall. They found a nice level area sheltered by a group of trees where they lay their mats down. There were some low lying branches that overlapped to form a natural roof so they would just need to add more foliage to make it more protective. A solid roof would be good enough for the first night.

"I don't see any poisonous Manchineel trees, do you?" Rick asked Kate.

"I'm not sure I'd be able to spot one, so I'll take your word for it." Kate's experience as a survivalist was more hands on than Rick's, whose experience was apparently more research based. She had meant to do more research on the Bahamas before coming out here, but the producers only told her about the specific location of the island a few days before she departed. Where Rick had the time to spend all day reading, Kate was trying to solve her last case before leaving. Her Captain had told her not to worry about it and her team was more than capable to continue without her, but she hated leaving loose ends. Turns out Richard Castle was a walking Wikipedia page - a fact that she found rather endearing, albeit a bit annoying.

"Think we'll be attacked by any wild boars tonight?" Rick asked as they got to work on the shelter.

"I hope so."

"I'm sorry, what?"

"I hope that one shows up so I can get a second shot at killing it. I don't know about you, Rick, but I'm sick of crabs and coconuts and I could really use a substantial meal."

"You're not scared of them, like not even a tiny bit?" Kate laughed.

"Don't worry, Rick, I'll protect you." Rick found the idea of Kate killing a wild boar kind of sexy and Kate found it equally sexy that he was not afraid to admit that he was scared. They each kept these thoughts to themselves, but blushed when their eyes locked for a second. Kate was the first to look away, doing that cute thing she did where she looked down and tried to hide behind a curtain of her hair. Well, Rick thought it was cute.

There were no wild boar attacks that night. There wasn't any rain either, which was a good thing since their shelter was far from being complete. Before it got dark they had managed to get the fire going and boil some water for drinking in the glass bottles that Rick had found, but they did not have time to find any food.

* * *

 **DAY 8**

Rick woke up to Kate cooking something on the fire. They looked like little slimy round pieces of slime.

"Good morning, sleepy." Kate glanced over to her partner who was trying, unsuccessfully, to arrange his sleep-mussed hair.

"What time is it?"

"About eight, I woke up early so I thought I'd hunt us down some breakfast."

"You mean those slimy things you're roasting? Do I want to know what it is or should I just eat it now and ask questions later?"

"Sea snail, otherwise known as conch or abalone." Kate said as she offered him one on a stick. "It's actually pretty good, I've already had a couple slices." Kate had spent the morning exploring the water near shore and was thrilled when she found a conch. She had beaten it with a large rock to tenderize the meat and then sliced it up with the machete. There were about ten slices in total.

Rick sniffed it and made a face. "Smells fishy."

"Just eat it, you big baby. And you're welcome." Kate picked up a slice for herself and took a bite, urging Rick to follow her lead. He looked like a toddler being forced to eat his vegetables, but he finally gave in and took a reluctant bite.

"Not bad, a little chewy but definitely edible. This would taste really good sautéed in some olive oil and garlic."

"Can't help you with the olive oil and garlic, but I'll beat it longer next time and that will help with the chewiness. I was a little impatient." Kate said, not hiding the fact that she was more than a little bit annoyed with the writer.

"Hey, I shouldn't complain. You made me breakfast and let me sleep in. A guy could get used to this. Thanks, Kate. Really."

"Sure." She flashed him a brief, closed mouth smile but it was enough to let him know that she wasn't really mad at him. They finished the abalone and boiled some water to wash it down with. After breakfast they took a moment to lie down on a shady part of the beach and relax.

"You know, it's not fair." Rick said, breaking the silence.

"What isn't fair?"

"You have your palm leaf bra top thing and a skirt-like covering and I'm still completely naked."

"I'll keep my eye out for some more usable clothing bits. There's bound to be something you can use."

"Unless you want me to stay naked, which is fine with me. Hey – ouch! Did you just throw a rock at me?" Kate did, in fact, throw a rock at him. He picked up a twig and tossed it back at her, which in turn caused her to pick up a handful of sand and toss it back. Soon they were grabbing whatever they could and throwing it at each other. They were laughing and shrieking and somewhere along the way Rick's bag was tossed to the side and Kate's palm leaf bra had broken and fallen off.

Kate rubbed a handful of sand in Rick's hair and then got up and started running away before he could retaliate. Rick, of course, took off running after her. Halfway to the water Kate started second-guessing her impulse to run away. What was going to happen if he caught her? Did she want him to catch her? Should she let him catch her?

Kate was fast. Faster than Rick, that was for sure. But Rick was highly motivated so he was able to keep up. When he noticed that she started to slow down he pushed himself to run faster and close the distance. Just as she hit the shoreline he pounced from behind and tackled her to the ground. Both of them were simultaneously out of breath and laughing.

They both landed in a tangle of limbs, their fall cushioned by the sand. Kate, who was facing down and dangerously close to getting a mouthful of sand, flipped herself around so that she was lying on her back. Her hands instinctively reached up to Rick's biceps and he found himself hovering over her in a most compromising position. He was absolutely completely naked and the only thing that separated them, _thank God!_ , was the ratty piece of fabric that Kate was using as a skirt.

No one was laughing anymore as they stared into each other's eyes, completely motionless and afraid to move. It seemed that they both forgot how to breathe. Kate's eyes flicked down to Rick's lips and he instinctively started lowering his head down, unable to stop the impulse to kiss her. Kate closed her eyes and panicked, her head fighting with her heart, not knowing if she was ready for what was about to happen.

There was one fact that was obvious to everyone on the island – survivalists, camera crew and producers combined. Rick was attracted to Kate and Kate was attracted to Rick. Unbeknownst to the pair, the camera crew had a bet going as to when the two would give in to their obvious attraction. Rick was painfully aware that his primary purpose of being on the show was book research and publicity. He was already well-liked by his fans and he needed to make sure that he continued to come across as likeable. He had told himself that he was not going to make any moves on Kate because he was not entirely sure how she would react. Getting slapped for an unwanted advance was not something he wanted to experience, let alone have televised for the world, _his mother and daughter_ , to see.

Richard Castle was used to charming the pants off of women. Literally. Even though he wasn't quite the playboy that the media portrayed, he was not hard up for dates. Women did not say no to him. But Kate wasn't just any woman. She was different, she was real, she was out of his league and he knew that none of his moves would work on her – even though she wasn't wearing any pants to be charmed out of. There was an undeniable spark between them and Rick refused to believe that Kate couldn't feel it too.

Kate wanted him to kiss her, but she was scared. She was worried that the attraction she felt was one-sided and the attraction that he felt was simply because she was the only woman around. She knew that she looked good and had the kind of body that drove men wild, but did his attraction go beyond the obvious? Was he interested in _Kate_ and not just the package she came in?

All signs pointed to yes. Big neon signs like the way he looked at her when he didn't know she was watching. The way he seemed genuinely interested in getting to know her and the tenderness in his touch, especially at night when they were sleeping. Flirting to them was second nature, but Kate needed to be certain that the connection ran deeper than innuendos and heated looks. He was world famous mystery novelist Richard Castle and she was just a cop. So yeah, she was a little insecure.

Like Rick, she never had trouble getting dates and men fell over themselves at the chance to ask her out. Kate Beckett went on dates, but she also kept her heart carefully guarded, not allowing herself to ever really commit to a relationship, never allowing herself to fall in love. Falling in love meant having someone else in her life that she couldn't bear to lose. Just like her mother.

In many cases with Kate, a kiss was jus a kiss. With Richard Castle she knew that a kiss could never just be a kiss. She wanted more and she could see that he wanted more in his eyes; the deep blue eyes she had stared into just a second before. Lying there with her eyes closed she could no longer see him, but she could feel him coming closer, his breath mingling with hers. The panic she felt was overwhelming and in the end her head won out over her heart. She knew that she was not ready for this.

As soon as their lips touched she reacted instinctively and flipped them over, knocking the wind out of her partner and surprising the hell out him. She gave him a shy smile, trying to convey everything that she couldn't put into words, and then took off running back down the beach.

Kate Beckett was really good at running away.

* * *

 **AN: I really hate that "just a cop" crap. We all know that Kate Beckett is so much more than that, but I'm trying to stay in character and she voiced those fears in season 5 so there it is... Thanks to everyone who is sticking with me and enjoying the story :)**


	9. Chapter 9

Rick sat up, unable to follow her just yet, and tried to process what just happened. She was absolutely gorgeous, running down the beach with her long legs and perfectly tanned body – chestnut hair blowing in the wind. He just wanted to remember this moment forever. He reached up to touch his lips, feeling the ghost of their almost kiss, and smiled.

Rick sensed that Kate needed some space so he let her go back to their camp alone. Instead of following, he explored some more of the island. He busied himself by finding more garbage to go through. He even found himself a pair of shorts to wear. They had probably once been pants and they were not exactly his size, but he was able to tear the waist a bit more to get them to fit well enough.

Kate was relieved to have some time to herself to process what just happened (or didn't happen), but she wondered why Rick didn't follow her back. Was he angry? Hurt that she pushed him away? They were going to have to talk about this and Kate was not good at talking about things. One thing was for sure, she was definitely not having this talk in front of the cameras. At night the crew went away and they were left alone until morning. There was one infrared camera that they rigged into the roof of their shelter, but it would be easy to sneak off and have some privacy.

After about half an hour, Rick decided he had waited a respectable amount of time and started heading back to camp. As he drew closer he noticed that Kate had refastened her woven palm top and she was trying to look busy by adding kindling to the fire. She looked nervous, her brow wrinkled as if she was deep in thought. Rick remembered his self-imposed mission: keep Kate happy and make Kate smile.

To Kate's relief, when Rick appeared he did not look angry. Quite the opposite, in fact. He was flashing her a huge smile and wearing something that looked like it had been a pair of shorts in a previous life. He pointed to his new attire and pretended like he was walking down a runway, complete with a pivot and turn at the end. It wasn't long before Kate was openly laughing at her partner.

"So, what do you think of my new outfit?" He looked absolutely ridiculous, swaying his hips and tossing her a look over his shoulder.

"Not the fancy high-end suits I'm sure you're accustomed to, but you can definitely pull it off." Kate said, clapping her hands at his performance.

"What makes you think I'm used to wearing expensive clothing?" _Oh shit!_ Rick sat down next to her by the fire and waited for a response.

"Just an educated guess, based on my detective skills." _Smooth, Kate, real smooth._ "So am I right?" She figured her best route at this point was to play dumb.

"Maybe. I guess you'll have to wait until we get back to New York to see for yourself."

"Still making plans for that, are we?"

"Yes, we are. So, um, are we OK?"

"Yeah, Rick, we're OK." Kate didn't know how to tell him that she wanted to talk later, out of view from the cameras, so instead she just reached over to take his hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze. She'd figure out a way to talk to him, but for now they were OK and she would not have to go to bed upset.

* * *

 **DAY 9**

The fire starter was gone and Kate was pissed. She was throwing more sticks on the fire, making sure it stayed nice and strong because now they had no way to start a new fire from scratch if this one died out.

"It's OK, Kate. We'll be fine."

"Really, Rick? Do you know how to start an actual fire from scratch? Or did you just read about it in your spare time?" _Ouch._

"I'm sorry, Kate. It was an accident." Rick felt responsible and Kate had every right to be angry. He was careless and this could really hurt their chances of surviving the next twelve days. The fire starter was in his bag and his bag had kind of gotten tossed around the day before when they had their little sand fight. Apparently it had flown out and he didn't notice it was missing until the next morning. Now neither one of them could find it.

"I can't believe you lost it! You had one survival item, Rick, ONE! Do you see me losing my machete?" Kate shot him some eye daggers as she continued to fuss with the fire, which really didn't need any fussing at the moment so she got up to look through their stuff for what felt like the hundredth time.

"No, but it wasn't entirely my fault. You distracted me yesterday! If I recall, you lost your top around the same time."

"Yes, but I found it right away, and I can survive just fine without it if I had to. We need the fire starter. UGH! I can't believe you lost it." Kate was tossing their mats aside and digging through the pile of stuff they had gathered from the garbage on the island. Stuff they thought might come in handy.

"I'm sorry, Kate, it was an accident."

"You said that already."

"I know, I just don't know what else to say. I want to fix this and I can't. You're obviously really angry. What can I do?"

"You can help me look." The anger was gone from her voice; she sounded defeated. Rick felt like shit.

"We'll find it, I promise."

"Don't make a promise that you can't keep." Rick had a feeling she was talking about more than the lost fire starter. The way she was looking at him, it was like she was looking _into_ him. Seeing all of his secrets. He imagined this is what she must look like when she interrogated a suspect.

"I never do." He looked straight back into her eyes, matching her intensity and daring her to look away. They continued to look everywhere again, retracing their steps from the day before, digging around in the sand where they thought it might have fallen.

At the end of the day they still had fire, but they had not found the missing fire starter. They ate dinner in silence, Rick afraid to say anything and Kate feeling somewhat guilty for being as angry as she was. Dinner consisted of more sea snails that Kate had found. She was pretty good at finding them and spent a lot of time in the water. She had even found a couple sea sponges that they used to clean the layers of dirt off their bodies.

Their diet had consisted of abalone and coconuts since arriving at the beach. Coconut bearing palm trees were easier to find closer to shore than inland at the blue hole. Also, thank goodness for miracles, there were significantly fewer bugs. Kate's skin was already starting to heal.

"I'm really sorry about the fire starter, Kate."

"I know. You don't have to keep apologizing."

"I'm just really sorry."

"I shouldn't have bit your head off earlier. You didn't lose it on purpose. It was an accident that could have happened to anyone. I kind of get intense sometimes, so I'm sorry too."

"Thanks, that means a lot. Kiss and make up?" Rick raised a hopeful eyebrow and Kate shook her head, but she was smiling and that's all he really wanted. Not that he would have turned down a kiss…

"You can have a handshake." Kate reached out her hand and Rick grabbed it. They shook hands, but when Kate made a move to pull her hand away Rick squeezed harder and pulled her in for a hug. She tensed for a second, but found it impossible not to melt into his embrace.

"Tomorrow will be a better day."

* * *

 **DAY 10**

The next day was a better day, but just barely. They still hadn't found the fire starter, but Kate didn't seem to be mad about it anymore. They were very polite to each other, but the playfulness and flirting was gone. Rick was sure that the camera footage from day ten would be tossed on the cutting room floor. He imagined a looped video of a fish tank would be more entertaining.

When the camera crew left that night, Rick and Kate were already in their shelter. Kate didn't want to make it obvious that she was evading the camera on purpose, but she needed to get Rick out of the shelter. She had wanted to talk to him all day, but the talk she planned to have was not something she wanted an audience for.

"Rick, I can't sleep. Take a walk with me?"

"In the dark?"

"It's not that dark, there's a full moon. I'll bring my machete to protect you from the wild boars." She didn't wait for a response and instead grabbed his hand and led him out of the shelter. When they were out of camera range she reached up and removed her necklace with the microphone on it. She pointed to Rick's necklace and he got the hint and removed his as well. Kate placed both of them in her bag, which she placed on the ground before taking Rick's hand again and leading him away from their camp. She did not, however, take the machete.

They walked in silence until they were about fifty yards away. Rick had no idea what she was doing, but he knew that he would follow Kate wherever she wanted to take him. He guessed, correctly, that she wanted to talk to him away from the cameras. She stopped in the same general area where they almost kissed and sat down a few feet back from the water's edge. Rick sat down next to her.

 _Here goes nothing._

"My mother died when I was nineteen. Murdered, stabbed in an alley and left to die. Her killer was never caught." Kate was looking down and drawing circles in the sand in the space between them.

"I'm so sorry, Kate. I had no idea." He reached down and stilled her hand, covering it with his own. She didn't pull away.

"I just thought you should know. It's not really something I tell people, but it's a huge part me, the reason I became a cop. We almost crossed a line yesterday and I, well I'm a mess and I just thought you should know more about me before we, if we, oh shit I'm no good at this." Kate took her hand back and hugged her knees, which she had pulled up against her body.

"I'm glad you shared that with me, Kate. You seem like a very private person and I respect that." _But I want to know more about you._

"Well now that we have some time to ourselves, is there anything else you want to know?" _Everything._

"What's your last name?" Kate laughed. She just offered him the chance to ask pretty much anything he wanted to and the first thing he asks is her name. That was actually kind of sweet.

"Beckett, Katherine Beckett."

"Well, Katherine Beckett, it's nice to meet you. I'm Richard Castle."

 _And there it was._

* * *

 **AN: The fire starter was really lost in the episode of N &A that I'm borrowing, but I can't remember who lost it. I remember that the dude was a misogynistic asshole who had a huge issue with the fact that he couldn't provide food. His partner caught a fish and he refused to eat it. Castle would never act that way, he's super grateful that Kate can catch and kill things for them to eat. I did some more reading about behind the scenes, which is how I found out that the camera crew leaves at night. They leave them with a whistle and a radio so they can call for help. There is also 24/7 medical support available if needed, including a nearby trauma center that they could be evacuated to if necessary. **


	10. Chapter 10

"Well, Mr. Castle, I have a confession." It was time for Kate to be honest with him, let him know that she already knew who he was. Let him know that she's known pretty much since the second she saw him.

"Oh my God, I KNEW it!"

"What?"

"You hid that fire starter! That was your payback from that second day when I pretended that the blue hole water made me sick." Kate looked confused for a second until she figured out what he was talking about.

"Oh, yeah no, not that. I was all bark and no bite on that one. No, I didn't hide the fire starter. You legitimately lost that all on your own with no help from me."

"OK, so what is it?" Kate looked down at her feet in the sand and took a deep breath. Well this was it, time to come clean.

"I already knew, before you told me." Kate bit her bottom lip and kept staring at her feet. "Richard Castle, bestselling mystery writer, Master of the Macabre, Bachelor number nine, I've known since I first laid eyes on you that first day." Her palms were sweaty and she was playing nervously with a piece of her tattered skirt. She was so nervous that she didn't see Rick scoot closer to her, close enough that their sides were touching. He gently reached out and tilted her face up so that he could look into her eyes.

"I know."

"Wait, you – what? How?"

"Kate, you kind of talk in your sleep." _Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit!_

"Oh shit!" Rick laughed and even in the dark of night, the moon was bright enough to see that Kate was turning a bright shade of red. An absolutely adorable shade of red, if you asked Rick. "What exactly did I say in my sleep?"

"Oh, lots of things." Rick was being vague on purpose; he was enjoying this just a little too much.

"Please, Rick, put me out of my misery and at least give me a heads up so I know if I have to enter the witness protection program when this show airs on TV."

"What exactly are you worried about, Detective?" Suddenly Kate looked like she was going to cry and Rick realized that his teasing went just a bit too far. "You just said my name, that's it."

"In what context?" Kate was still freaking out.

"Just vague things like, 'not yet, Castle' and 'stop that, Castle' or just muttering nonsense with a 'Castle' thrown in here and there." Rick left out some of the more revealing things that she said all too clearly, with no mistake about what she had been dreaming about. _Please Castle, don't stop._ Even though it was all caught on film he would make sure that none of that made its way to a national audience. He wasn't sure how, but he knew Paula could take care of it.

"So even in my sleep you were annoying me?" Kate breathed a sigh of relief. It didn't sound too bad, unless he was hiding something. No, she didn't want to let her mind go there.

"Well hey, at least you were dreaming about me. I can't complain about – ow, ow, ow, apples!" Kate had reached out and twisted his ear. Again. She let go at the mention of his safe word and he immediately reached up to rub his sore ear. "What was that for? What did I do now?"

"That, Mr. Castle, was for not telling me that you knew that I knew who you were!"

"But you were keeping a secret from me, too!"

"Your secret trumps my secret because I didn't know you knew."

"Well that makes no sense."

"No, it doesn't. I'm just a little embarrassed." Kate reached up to rub the spot that she had just pinched. He flinched, but then relaxed when he realized that she wasn't going to hurt him again. "Sorry about that. Cop reflex." He tilted his head into her touch. Hell, she could pinch, hurt and maim every inch of his body if she would massage it like this afterwards.

"It's OK, don't worry about it. I should have said something. I was hoping you'd tell me though. Was worried why you were pretending not to know who I am."

"Worried about what?"

"Well at first I was excited and hoped that recognizing me meant that you're a fan. But then I thought the opposite could be true as well, that you recognized me and thought poorly of me because not everyone loves 'Richard Castle'." Rick turned his gaze, afraid to look at her. "And then yesterday on the beach when you ran away, I thought that maybe my attraction to you was just one-sided." It was Kate's turn to reach out and cup the side of his face, bring his gaze to meet hers.

"No, no, definitely not one-sided."

"Really?

"Really." Kate closed her eyes as their foreheads rested together, her hand lightly caressing the side of Rick's face.

"So why did you run off like that?" Rick was afraid to ask, but he needed to know. Kate dropped her hand and turned to face the water, admiring the way the moon was reflected in the ocean's surface for a moment before she answered.

"A lot of reasons. I was worried you were only interested because I'm your only option right now. I'm also not really looking for a meaningless island fling. And then there's the cameras… so I panicked and ran."

"I've never met anyone like you, Kate. It could never be meaningless or just a fling with you. I'm not the man that you've read about in the papers. Most of the women you might have seen me with were just dates my publicist arranged for me. Helps sell books, she says, makes the women want me and the men want to be me."

"Sounds like a rough life."

"Oh I enjoy it, don't get me wrong. The parties are fun, but most nights I go home alone, to my daughter. She's my number one priority. I haven't been in a serious relationship since my second marriage ended a couple years ago."

"Your second marriage?"

"Oh shit, that sounds bad, doesn't it? My first wife, Meredith, we were young when she got pregnant. I tried to do the right thing by marrying her and I did love her, but I don't think she cared for me beyond the image and the fame. She was more in love with my bank account and social status. One day, when Alexis was three, I came home and found her in bed with another man. Her director; she's an actress."

"Rick, you don't have to –"

"No, no, it's OK, I want to tell you. I want you to get to know the real Richard Castle."

"I think I already know him." Kate leaned forward, closing the space between them and placed a soft kiss to the corner of his mouth. "But please, whatever you want to tell me I'll gladly listen." She linked her hand with his, giving him something to hold on to while he shared this part of him that he never shared with others.

"I was single for a long while after that. My second wife, Gina, was my publisher. Still is my publisher, actually. We work well together but getting married was a mistake. In retrospect, we were both more in love with the idea of getting married than actually being married. We looked great on paper, but there was no spark, no passion. We ended up constantly arguing over everything. I wanted to give Alexis a loving home with two parents, but I failed. Twice. She's wonderful, despite all this, she's just the most amazing daughter. I'm so lucky to have her."

"I think she's pretty lucky to have you too, Rick." Their foreheads were touching again, hands still linked. Rick reached up and brushed a strand of hair off of Kate's face.

"I'm going to kiss you now and I don't want you to run away." His lips were so close to hers that she could feel them move against her as he spoke.

"No, no more running." They both surged forward at the same time, giving in to their shared desire. At first it was a soft and tender exploration, noses bumping and breath mingling as their lips tentatively pressed together. Kate parted her lips ever so slightly and nipped at Rick's bottom lip which caused him to take control and claim her more fully, deepening the kiss and strengthening their connection.

Rick was reaching around Kate's waist and pulling her into his lap, his hands exploring the bare skin of her back. It was dangerous being this close to naked while they were making out, heavily, and it wasn't long before Kate's palm leaf top seemed to have fallen off her body. She wasn't sure if it had fallen off on its own or if Rick had removed it on purpose, but she didn't care. They both craved the closeness of skin on skin and even though he wasn't making any moves towards second base, just the feel of his bare chest against hers was making her heart race and desire pool low in her belly.

Suddenly she was very grateful for the scraps of clothing that prevented them from taking things too far. She wasn't about to have hot island sex with Richard Castle, no matter how tempting it was. And oh, was it tempting. Surprisingly, however, it was not Kate who stopped them from going too far that night.

Rick was the one to pull away first. As their lips separated Kate leaned forward, trying to reclaim his mouth. It took an amazing amount of will power, but Rick held her back as he tried to catch his breath. Kate was straddling him and her arms were draped around his shoulders, one hand playing with the soft hairs at the base of his head, making it very difficult for him to speak.

"Kate, if we don't stop now I won't be able to. Which doesn't mean I don't want to, not stop that is, but we will have plenty of time for that. When we get home." Kate smiled, unable to contain the happiness she felt with his implication that they would continue exploring their relationship after the show. Slowly she removed herself from his lap and stood up, still holding Rick's hand and pulling him up with her. She linked her arm with his and started to lead him back to their shelter, leaving her broken top behind.

Kate picked up her bag and retrieved the two necklaces with their microphones on them. They would have to put them back on before going back into the shelter, but before they did, she just had one more thing to ask her partner.

"Can we keep this between us for now?"

"There's no one else here, Kate."

"I know, I just mean away from the cameras. Despite the fact that I agreed to do this show, I'm a very private person and I don't want the more intimate parts of our relationship on film, let alone broadcasted on national television. I don't care if they figure out that there's something between us, I'm just not putting on that kind of show."

"Can we sneak away at night so I can kiss you?" Instead of answering she leaned forward to give him a quick kiss before pulling back and smiling, her answer an obvious, "yes".

After they put their microphones back on and crawled into the shelter, Rick thanked her out loud for taking a walk with him in the moonlight – even though it had been Kate who asked him to take the walk with her. She responded with some comment about how beautiful the ocean looked as they tried to come up with some explanation for why they were missing for so long.

Rick lay down on his back and Kate curled into his side, looping her arms around his and snuggling into his shoulder. She didn't care that she was making the shift in their relationship more obvious. It was impossible for her to sleep next to the writer without touching him.

"Hey, Kate?" Rick asked in a whisper, not wanting to speak loud enough for the equipment to pick up a usable audio feed.

"Yeah?" Rick turned on his side so he could face her.

"When we get back to New York, can I take you out to dinner sometime? Like where we sit down and order food and they bring it to us and we don't have to kill it or cook it ourselves?"

"Wow, you mean places like that exist?" Kate said, a smile in her eyes as well as on her lips.

"I'm sure at this point I could make you a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and that would impress you."

"You don't have to impress me, you know. I'm not that kind of girl."

"Don't leave me hanging, Kate, I'm not sure my ego can take being turned down by the only girl with me on a deserted island."

"Yes, Rick. When we get home I'd love to have dinner with you." His smile was infectious and she found herself blushing furiously at the idea of going on a real date with Richard Castle. Somehow the thought of getting dressed up and going out with him was more intimidating than lying naked next to him in their shelter, or kissing him on the beach. "I only have one condition."

"Anything."

"No tapping out, we make it through the twenty-one days together. You leave me here and the date is off."

"That won't be a problem, Detective. I wouldn't give up even a minute of time that could be spent with you." Kate looked in his eyes to see if there was any hint of sarcasm in his voice, but all she saw was the raw honest truth.

* * *

 **AN: I wrote the beginning of this chapter awhile ago so I'm excited that we finally reached this point in the story. Kate's nocturnal confessions will remain Rick's little secret. Well, he might tell Kate the truth some day when it's a "look back on this and laugh" kind of situation, but I'm not going to have her embarrassed by airing it on TV. What you get to see is definitely more than our fictional TV audience will see :)**


	11. Chapter 11

**DAY 11**

They woke up in a tangle of limbs. Rick was spooning Kate with his top leg pushed between her legs, his arms wrapped around her waist. They were both on Rick's side of the shelter using only his mat. Kate was the first to wake up. She smiled under the delicious weight of her partner and snuggled into the warmth of his body. It was almost enough to make her forget her surroundings.

There was no rush to get up, nowhere to go and nothing really to do that couldn't wait. Kate lay there thinking about the previous night, replaying the conversation and events in her head. Of course there were all the giddy feelings that came with the excitement of a new relationship, but she was also feeling lighter with the relief of being honest with Rick.

Kate knew that Rick was awake when she felt him drawing circles around her belly button. His head was resting on her shoulder and he couldn't help himself from placing a small kiss there. She felt the kiss and twisted in his arms, lying on her back and looking up into his eyes.

"Good morning, beautiful." Rick reached up and brushed the hair off her face, gently caressing her cheek and jaw.

"Hi." Kate smiled and kissed his palm. Well they were doing an awful job of hiding their change in relationship status. It was going to be terribly obvious to the crew, and of course to the entire viewing audience when the show aired.

"You, uh, lost your bikini top thingy." Rick's gaze was traveling down her body, happy that he could now look at her in broad daylight. Sure he'd seen her naked from the moment they met, but it was different now. Now he could look _and_ touch. And openly show his appreciation of her very beautiful body.

"Oh, is that what we're calling it?" Kate giggled. She actually giggled. This was new. "It's kind of scratchy, I was thinking of using one of the other material scraps instead."

"Or you could just stay naked. I'm not wearing a shirt either, it's only fair." Rick looked straight at her chest and raised an eyebrow while he nodded in appreciation. But then his expression turned serious as his eyes darted between Kate and the camera. The two-person crew with them that morning consisted of two men. Two reasonably good-looking men, neither of which was wearing a wedding band.

"What's wrong?" Kate asked, confused at his sudden change in mood from fun and flirty to whatever this was.

"I ah, just thought maybe it would be a better idea if you covered up."

"Thank you for being concerned about my modesty, but the cameras will blur everything out when the show airs."

"Yes, but there's nothing to blur you out right now." Rick had already moved to the pile of collected scraps and was looking for something she could use. Kate was still lying on her back, propped up on her elbows as she watched him consider each scrap of cloth.

"Are you going to make this a habit? Picking out my clothes for me?" Kate found his behavior oddly amusing and a little bit sweet.

"Here, try this one." He passed her a long scrap of colorful fabric that looked like it had once been part of one of those pashmina type wraps. Kate wrapped it around her breasts like a tube top, tied it off and tore off the hanging ends. The fabric was worn and threadbare so it was easy to tear.

"Happy?" Kate stood up and twirled around, modeling her new outfit. "I call this, _Island Chic_." Rick nodded. He then pulled her into his arms so he could give her a hug and whisper his thanks into her ear. Kate smiled and blushed, secretly thrilled that he didn't want anyone else to see her naked.

"Yeah, you were definitely a model."

"Be a good boy and I'll show you some of my stuff, Ricky."

"I've already seen – your _stuff_."

"Down boy. Save it for later." Kate winked at him and then wiggled out of his arms. He let her go, thankful that she was the one to pull away before he kissed her senseless and really gave the camera a good show.

Keeping their hands off each other that day proved almost as difficult as finding food. On the plus side, Rick was trying so hard to focus his attention on something else that he finally caught his first fish. He spent several hours standing in the shallow water with one of Kate's spears, just waiting for a sizable fish to swim by. On his fifth attempt he was finally fast enough to spear the fish.

Kate heard Rick's triumphant yell from over a hundred feet away. She was busy working on the shelter, adding more to the sides and roof. She had also stacked their mats. Now that they only needed one, it was better to have the extra padding.

"Look, Kate, I caught a fish! I have no idea what kind it is, but I call him ' _Dinner_ '" He came running towards her holding the fish out.

"Congratulations, Rick!" She reached into her bag for the machete and held it out for him. "Now you get to remove the fish guts so we can cook him."

"As you wish." Rick took his fish and the machete over to the flat rock they had been using as a surface to pound the sea snails and went to work preparing the fish. The fish wasn't big enough to fill their bellies, but every little bit helped, especially when it was protein.

"This fish is delicious, Rick. I can't believe you caught it." Kate was trying to pick every last edible morsel off of the bones on her half of the fish.

"I see you have a lot of faith in my fishing skills." Rick teased. Truth be told, he surprised the hell out of himself when he caught it.

"While I'm sure that you are a man of many skills, until today catching fish wasn't one of them. Do this every day and I'll - " Kate paused, not exactly sure how to end that sentence.

"You'll do what, Detective?" He challenged, moving closer to her so that their thighs were touching.

"I'll show you some of _my_ many skills." Kate ran her tongue across her lips while her gaze drifted to his lips. Rick started coughing. "You OK there?"

"Yeah, just (cough) think I (cough) swallowed a bone or something." Kate raised an eyebrow and grinned, happy that she was able to fluster him so much.

"Speaking of my many skills, I - "

"KATE!"

"What?" She paused for a second before she figured it out. "Oh gosh, no, get your mind out of the gutter!" Kate smacked him in the shoulder before she continued.

"I was saying… Speaking of my many skills, while you were out there fishing I made us some dessert. Well, it was going to be our main course, but then you caught the fish so now we have dessert." She disappeared into the shelter and came out holding two bowls of an interesting looking creation. Rick had no idea what it was, but he couldn't wait to try it.

"Wow, it looks delicious. What is it?"

"I found some papayas. I call this ' _coconut papaya surprise'_. It's made up of coconut, papaya and it's a surprise, so… Well I hope it tastes OK." Kate handed Rick a bowl and sat down next to him with hers.

"I don't know if I'm more impressed with the papaya or the fact that you made bowls." He was turning the bowl around in his hands, admiring her very accomplished weaving skills.

"I hope it tastes OK." Kate watched nervously as Rick took the first bite.

"I can honestly say it's the best thing I've had on this island since that fish we just ate." That earned him another shoulder punch. "No, really, it's pretty good. You should try it." Kate picked up a piece of papaya and was pleasantly surprised at how good it was.

"It's a nice change from just the coconut." She didn't remember being a fan of papaya, but they had been stuck on Andros for eleven days now, eating a very limited diet. From where she was sitting this was among the best fruit that she had ever tasted.

They stayed by the fire after they finished eating, talking about their lives back home but keeping the conversation light. They were being mindful of the camera and saving the more important things for when they were alone. After the last of the crew left for the evening they waited about ten minutes before removing their necklaces and going for a walk.

They had barely made it ten feet before Rick grabbed Kate's hand and pulled her in for a very passionate kiss. All of the pent up sexual frustration from keeping his hands to himself all day long poured out of him the instant their lips met. Kate wasn't holding back either, giving as much as she got, returning his kiss with a fiery passion.

He tried to pull back after a few minutes, forcing himself to be respectful of their unspoken decision to keep things from going to far, but the second he broke contact, Kate surged into him, pressing her entire body against the length of his. Her hands tried to pull him even closer, her lips skimming his jaw and finding purchase just below his ear.

"God, Kate, you better stop before I -" His words were cut off by a moan when one of her hands reached around to grab his butt and pull his front flush against hers.

"Why don't you take these ridiculous shorts off, Rick. They look a little small."

"And getting smaller by the minute as long as you keep touching me like that." He pulled her hands away from his body and led her further away from their camp. Kate managed to undo her top and step out of her makeshift skirt while he was leading her away so that when he finally stopped he was faced with a completely naked Kate. Unlike the first time he saw her this way, now he was able to openly admire, touch and worship her body.

"We need to do something about those awful shorts." Kate took matters into her own hands and slid them down his legs, removing the last physical barrier between them and revealing his obvious desire for her. She was back in his arms and Rick welcomed her warmth, intent on continuing his exploration of her body, inch by delicious inch.

"Kate, we don't have any protection."

"Are you clean?" He nodded. "So am I, and I have an IUD so it's covered. We can have hot island sex and not worry about making any little Castle babies."

"Hot island sex?" He was holding both her hands as he knelt down in front of her and gently pulled her down to the sand.

"Yes. I want to have hot island sex with Richard Castle. It's on my bucket list." Kate brought her hands to his chest and pushed him down, following as she lay down beside him and draped a leg over his.

"What a coincidence. Hot island sex with Katherine Beckett is on _my_ bucket list." Kate laughed at that, but only for a second. She was quickly silenced by his mouth on hers as his hands began to evoke other, more primal sounds from her lips.

* * *

"Wow, you weren't kidding about those skills." They were lying in each others arms, breathless and sweaty. Kate had no doubt that she had a lot of sand in some very uncomfortable places, but _oh_ it was so worth it.

"You were pretty amazing yourself, Mr. Castle." They didn't make it back to the shelter that night, instead choosing to stay right where they were.

"Kate?"

"Hmm?" She was just about to drift off to sleep.

"Kate, I want to write about you."

* * *

 **AN:** **Sorry for the delay in posting this week! It was a combination of being really busy with the kids and a little bit of writer's block. I sat down to write this chapter several times before I finally figured out where I was going with it. I had fun throwing in a few references from the show, but instead of using the Beckett onion I pulled the reference to having many skills from one of my other all-time favorite TV shows. There's another strong female character that kicks major ass and one of her famous tag lines is "I have many skills." Anyone know who that is?**


	12. Chapter 12

**DAY 12**

Well shit.

Waking up in Rick's arms was wonderful. Waking up in Rick's arms with a camera pointed straight at them was not wonderful. The female production assistant was holding their microphone necklaces and, yup, that was definitely a smirk on her face. She walked over and placed them in Kate's open hand before retreating back behind the camera.

"Rick, wake up!" Kate hissed in his ear while she nudged him with her elbow, his weight heavy around her.

"Don't wanna get up yet, stay in bed Kate."

"We're not _in_ bed, Rick!"

"Sure feels like we are. His eyes didn't open, but his mouth found her neck and started kissing her pulse point."

"Ah, Rick- " Kate tried to suppress a moan, her body clearly wanting what her head knew she couldn't have. "Rick, stop, we're um, not in the shelter. And it's morning."

"Yeah, so?" He thankfully pulled back only to look at her with those gorgeous blue eyes of his, pupils dilated and a hungry look on his face. He leaned in for a kiss but Kate stopped him with her index finger on his lips. He proceeded to start sucking that finger.

"Not helping, Rick! _Look behind you!_ "

"No thanks, have everything I need to see right here in front of me."

"Rick, the cameras!" She shoved the necklaces in front of him and watched as realization washed across his face.

"SHIT!" He practically flew away from her as his head spun around. The production assistant and the camera man both waved at him. Forget the smirks, they were outright laughing at them. Rick waved back.

"Glad you guys are having fun!" Rick shot back at them.

"From the looks of things, I think it was you two having all the fun." The production assistant called back. "Now put your microphones back on so we can do our jobs."

Aside from being prompted to answer a few questions on several occasions, this was the most interaction they'd had with the crew since they started filming. Rick took his necklace from Kate and put it on as she did the same.

"I've got a lot of sand in, uh, places. Think I'll take a dip in the ocean before we head back." Kate started walking towards the water while Rick just sat there and stared at his very beautiful – girlfriend? She looked every bit the model - wavy brown hair sun kissed with highlights, long tan legs that seemed to go on for miles, sand shimmering from the places it was stuck to her body. The light from the sun silhouetted her naked profile against the gorgeous ocean view. She was simply breathtaking.

Kate was about twenty feet ahead when she turned and called over her shoulder, "You coming, Castle?"

"Right behind you!"

* * *

It turns out that being caught by the camera wasn't the worst consequence of falling asleep away from their shelter. Rick and Kate returned to find that their fire had died out. With the fire starter still missing, there was no easy way to get the fire back. No fire meant no drinking water, and this was a problem.

"You know, it was still worth it." Rick said, afraid of how Kate was going to react to their loss of fire.

"What are we going to do, Rick? We can't survive without water." It had been all too easy to forget themselves and get lost in each other last night. The morning brought them back into their harsh reality.

"I've read about primitive fire starting."

"Of course you have." Kate snapped back at him, and instantly regretted it.

"Well they kind of frown on starting fires in Central Park so I didn't really have an opportunity to try it in an actual forest like setting, but we don't really have any other options."

"Find the fire starter?"

"See? Two options! That's the kind of optimism we need." Kate offered him a weak smile. At least he was trying.

"Well, I guess we know what we are going to do today." Kate went into the shelter and came back with a couple of papayas that she had stashed away from the day before. She offered one to Rick and sat down next to him. They had worked up quite an appetite with the previous evening's activities. However fun that was, she was seriously rethinking whether or not they should continue being that active while they still had the survival challenge to get through.

"We're going to need a somewhat flat piece of dry wood and then a stick about two feet long to use as a spindle." Rick was picking through what was left of the fire, but it was clear that they were going to have to look elsewhere.

It took them about half an hour to gather all the items that they would need to start the fire. Kate used her knife to carve a V-shaped notch in the fireboard and then used it to taper the end of spindle. Rick put some dry bark under the notch so that they would have something to catch the ember with in the event that they were successful.

Kate sat back and watched as Rick took the spindle and started rolling it between the palms of his large hands. He was going strong for about five minutes before he sat back in frustration. Kate leaned forward to see if there was anything going on in the fireboard.

"I think I saw a little bit of smoke there." Kate said, trying to sound encouraging.

"It looked so easy on YouTube, maybe the wood isn't dry enough."

"I think it is? I mean it hasn't rained the entire time that we've been here and we found it in a relatively dry area. Want me to try?" She went to pick up the spindle.

"Make sure you are putting pressure on it. Start at the top and run your hands down the spindle quickly so that you increase the speed."

Neither writer nor detective was able to start the fire. Several hours later they were both frustrated and exhausted. Expending all that energy only served to dehydrate them even more.

"Rick, I can't do this anymore. I'm starting to feel light-headed and nauseous."

"We need to get you something to drink." Rick picked up her limp hand and held it in his lap, trying to comfort her.

"Not just me, aren't you feeling it too?" She turned his hand over and noticed several blisters starting to form.

"I am, but I'm more concerned about you. Do we have any more coconuts?"

"No, we used the last of them last night."

"OK, so we can just get a few more." By now they had found several reliable locations for picking ripe coconuts. There wasn't an endless supply, but there was enough to have at least one a day until they made it to extraction.

"I don't think I can walk right now, I need to rest." Kate hated to admit weakness, but she didn't think she could stand up without fainting so she decided that it was best to be honest. It probably had something to do with the man she was with. For some reason, he made it easy for her to be more herself than she had ever been with anyone else.

"Can't walk now? Is that because I – OUCH! Sorry! Right, dehydration, got it." He was about to say something entirely inappropriate about their night together, but thankfully Kate stopped him with a not-so-gentle reminder. She gave him a solid pinch to the skin on his waist.

"Watch it, Mr. Castle." Kate warned, lips tight as she narrowed her eyes in a glare.

"You rest, I'll be right back." Rick leaned down to press a quick kiss to her lips, but realized what he was about to do and left the kiss on her hand instead. _Damn cameras!_ He rubbed the sore spot on his side, not wanting to get another.

Kate crawled into the shelter and lay down on the woven mats. Her headache was getting worse. _This is not supposed to be my 'morning after' the best sex I ever had in my life._ She smiled thinking about the truth of that thought. It would make Rick's day to hear her admit that. His eyes would light up in that adorable way and – wow, she really was smitten.

Last night had been… magical, for lack of a better word. There wasn't any other way to describe the intense connection that she shared with Rick, and it was so much more than just a physical connection. The way they worked together was seamless; their entire partnership had been in sync since they met that first day.

Kate had never been able to work so well with another person before. There was a reason why she was the only police detective who worked without a partner. Well, she had Ryan and Esposito, but she was their boss and the two of them had a true partnership. She wondered if the person who made the casting decisions on Naked and Afraid had predicted that they would get along this well. And the things he had done to her last night; it was as if he already knew the intricacies of her body.

She must have fallen asleep because the next thing she knew she was waking up for the second time that day. And for the second time, she was in Rick's arms. He had crawled back into the shelter after returning with the coconuts. He didn't want to wake her up and, truth be told, he needed the rest as well.

"Good afternoon, Sleeping Beauty."

"Did my Prince Charming bring me some coconuts?"

"No, but your Prince Phillip did."

"Prince Phillip?"

"Prince Phillip is the name of Sleeping Beauty's prince. Prince Charming belongs to Cinderella. And Snow White. Although presumably not the same guy. Maybe brothers?"

"Uh, Rick?" Kate raised an eyebrow in question.

"Single dad with a daughter, remember? I possess quite a lot of princess knowledge." He waved a hand and gave her that adorable smile.

"Right. So?"

"Coconuts! I brought you two coconuts!" He tried to get her to drink the water from both of them, but Kate insisted he needed to rehydrate himself too. It wasn't nearly enough, but it definitely helped.

"Are you ready for round two?" Kate asked.

"KATE!" Rick dropped his coconut in shock.

"The fire! Round two of starting the fire!" She really had to think before she spoke around him.

* * *

Another two hours later and they finally had something. It was Rick's turn and the smoke lasted long enough to get a tiny ember off the wood and onto the tree bark. Kate grabbed their small pile of kindling that resembled a bird's nest and Rick carefully transferred the smoking ember onto it. He cupped the nest in his hands and gently blew on it.

Slowly but surely, a flame appeared. Kate cheered in excitement and clapped her hands as Rick transferred the flame to their fire pit. Within a few minutes their fire had been brought back to life. They immediately put several glass bottles with water in them into the fire to begin the boiling process.

Boiling the water and cooling it down enough to drink only took about half an hour, but it felt like the longest thirty minutes in either of their lives. It was already starting to get dark.

Kate shifted in the sand when she felt something poke into her left butt cheek. She scooted over and dug in the sand where she had been sitting, expecting to find a rock. It wasn't a rock. When she realized what it was she began laughing hysterically.

"Um Kate, you OK?" Rick had no idea what was going on. Perhaps the water hadn't hit her system yet and she was delirious from the dehydration.

"Look what I was sitting on." She tossed him the object.

"No fucking way! All this time it was literally right here." Their eyes locked and they both started laughing.

Kate had been sitting on the fire starter.

* * *

 **AN: So I have no idea where they are getting the water to boil. I assume they found pools of fresh water near where they are, but there was absolutely no mention of it in** **the episode that I based this off of. They found the glass bottles and then you saw them boiling water. Anybody watch Naked and Afraid XL? They just aired the finale on Sunday. Twelve all-stars from previous episodes had to survive 40 days instead of the usual 21. **SPOILER ALERT** Dani, who was from the episode I am borrowing parts of, tapped out in the second to last episode. Kate would never do that. If you guessed Xena for the "I have many skills" line then you guessed correctly :)**


	13. Chapter 13

**DAY 13**

It was a damn good thing that they found the fire starter because it rained that night. It rained all night and continued to rain through the next day. The rain was so bad that the crew left them alone the entire day, which meant the only footage they would have came from the camera mounted to the roof of their shelter.

The shelter at least did a good job keeping the rain out. They had made it nearly two weeks without so much as a slightly dark cloud in the sky so they hadn't been able to test their roof. If it had rained on one of the first couple of nights then they would have been in trouble, but it was their sixth night in their beach shelter and they had spent quite a bit of time make the roof thick with layers of woven palm leaves.

They collected rainwater to drink without the need for boiling, but there wasn't much in the way of food. Rick and Kate found themselves scraping every last bit of coconut meat out of the shells that they had opened the day before. It was a miserable day and the time just seemed to drag on. The sound of the rain was probably interfering with the sound feed so they weren't too concerned about their conversations ending up on television when the show aired. Still, they kept it PG and tried not to get too personal.

"Kate, can I ask you something?"

"You just did." She winked and he grabbed her hand when she tried to playfully slap his arm. They were already huddled close, but she leaned into his touch and rested her head on his shoulder.

"I'll take that as a yes. You said you're a workaholic, so how is it that you were able to take off a month to film this show?"

"Turns out my captain was more than willing to let me have the time off. I had accrued so many unused vacation days that I was in a 'use it or lose it' kind of situation."

"You never wanted to take a vacation anywhere?"

"Didn't have anyone to go with."

"And holidays?"

"Someone has to at least be on call. Murderers don't stop murdering just because it's Christmas."

"Even Christmas?" Rick shrieked, not even trying to hide his expression, which was a cross between horror and shock.

"Again, it's not like I had anyone to spend it with. Holidays just weren't the same after my mom..." Her voice trailed off and she looked down, averting her eyes from Rick's concerned gaze. "Wow, my life is pretty depressing."

"All work and no play…"

"…makes Kate a dull girl. Yes, Rick, thank you again for that."

"You're not, you know. Dull. But we're going to have to fix this work situation."

"Oh? _We_ are?"

"No more working on holidays. You've got someone to spend them with now. And if Christmas is too hard, well I've got more than half a year to work on that so don't worry about it now. And as soon as you've earned some more vacation days I'm going to take you somewhere warm and tropical where we don't have to hunt down our own food and sleep outside."

"Mmmmm, that does sound appealing. What I wouldn't give for a nice big bed with soft sheets and pillows. I think I'd give my right arm for a pillow right about now."

"Feel free to use me as a pillow in the meantime." Kate reached over and skated her fingers over his abs.

"Too skinny, there's no padding." Rick looked down and was surprised to see that he could actually see his abs.

"Huh, look at that. There was more padding when I got here. I'm going to have to fatten us both up when we get back. Oh and that bed? I've got one that you're going to love."

"Looking forward to it."

"The food or the bed?"

"Both. Food first. No wait, shower first, then food, then bed."

"Eight more days, Kate, we're almost there."

"Eight more days."

* * *

 **DAY 14**

The rain finally stopped in the middle of the night and the sun was shining bright when they woke up on the morning that would mark the end of their second week on the island. The camera crew was back, waiting for them to wake up and get to work.

Rick and Kate barely even spoke as they got to work starting the fire again (which was much easier now that they had the fire starter back) and looking for food. Rick went off to gather coconuts and papayas while Kate went looking for sea snails and fish. One of the things she liked about Rick was that he was more than OK with the fact that she was better at hunting live food. Granted she never caught that boar, but he had no doubt that if the boar showed up again it wouldn't have a chance. Sure he caught that one fish a couple days ago, but it was more luck than skill. Kate had a better chance of catching more fish and they both knew it.

Sure enough, Kate was able to catch two sizable fish and brought them back to camp with a handful of sea snails. When she brought them back to camp Rick was already slicing up papaya and getting ready to crack open the coconuts. He passed her the machete and she got to work preparing the fish for the fire.

The food was exactly what their bodies needed after two days of barely eating anything. Rick gobbled up his fish in seconds while Kate tried to eat hers slowly. She had a tendency to cramp if she ate too fast and she wanted to make sure that she kept the food down. As thin as she was going into this challenge, she had gotten even thinner and she really didn't want to lose any of the precious calories and protein.

"I used to love Swiss Family Robinson when I was a kid." Kate said as they lay by the fire, their bellies digesting their tiny meal as if it were a feast.

"Only one of the best movies ever! When I was a kid I dreamed of living on an island and building an awesome tree house just like the one in the movie." Kate laughed.

"How did I know you'd say that?"

"I bet we could, you know. Build something like that if we were stuck out here for longer than twenty-one days."

"But how would we defend ourselves against the pirates?"

"I have no doubt that you would protect me. I bet you could take out fifteen pirates without even using the machete."

"Maybe ten. I'd need your help with the other five."

"So you think I'd be useful? Help you take down the bad guys?"

"Of course. We make a good team, don't you think?"

"I do, very much so." Rick paused, not sure if now was a good time to bring up the idea that had been brewing in his head since the moment he laid eyes on the gorgeous detective. "So I was thinking."

"Uh oh, should I be worried?" Kate sensed his nervousness.

"Do you know why I decided to do this show?"

"Well I assumed it wasn't because of your stellar survival skills." Kate said with a smile, ticking the underside of his forearm that she was wrapped around.

"Yeah, definitely not. I came out here for book research. I saw the show last season and got the idea to have Derrick Storm marooned on an island for part of the next book. I like to do hands on research so my publicist got me onto this show, promised to pair me with someone who knew what they were doing so I didn't die out here."

"You're welcome."

"Yes, thank you for keeping me alive, Kate." Rick gave her a quick kiss, smiling against her lips. "But then I met you and I stopped thinking about Derrick Storm. You have inspired me on a whole new level to the point that I want to move on, write something new." Kate drew in a sharp breath and gasped.

"Something new? But what will happen to Derrick?" Kate looked genuinely shocked and Rick couldn't help himself from kissing her again.

"Careful, Kate. Your fangirl is showing. That's so cute that you're a fan. I keep forgetting that." She was blushing, but she also looked slightly annoyed.

"I never said that I was a fan."

"You didn't have to; you're not the only one here with detective skills, Detective."

"So how do you figure that I'm a fan?"

"Well for one thing, you recognized me. I know I'm somewhat of a celebrity, but I'm no Brad Pitt. The only people who know who I am are the people who obsessively read page six of the New York Ledger and the people who read my books. You don't seem like a gossip page kind of girl so I'm going with fan of my books."

"I might have read a few." Rick raised an eyebrow. "OK all of them, I've read them all. Are you happy?"

"Ecstatic!" That earned her another kiss. It was clear that they were no longer hiding their relationship from the cameras. Perhaps this was an easy way of letting the media know that bachelor number nine was off the market.

"So what's going to happen to Derrick?"

"I've got one more book contracted so you don't have to worry about him just yet. But after that book I want to do something new. I have this idea about a badass NYPD homicide detective. She's brilliant and really good at her job. Fights for justice and always gets the bad guy. Plus, she's really hot." Kate just stared at him not knowing what to say.

"It's based on you, Kate. I want to write a book based on you."

Kate just stared back at him.

"Kate?" She finally blinked and opened her mouth to speak.

"Sorry, this is all just a little too weird. I mean here I am naked on an island with Richard Castle."

"We're not naked anymore."

"Right, so sometimes naked and making out with Richard Castle on a deserted island in the Bahamas."

"Well we did a little bit more than -"

"Rick!"

"Right, sorry, I keep forgetting that we're not really alone."

"Exactly, it's just so surreal. I keep half expecting Ashton Kutcher to jump out of the bushes and tell me that I've been punk'd." She was still avoiding his gaze.

"Kate. Hey, look at me. Please?" He gently reached his arm around her and tilted her chin until she was facing him. She still wouldn't look at him so he kissed her gently, trying to convey his assurance that what was happening between them was very much real. When he pulled back she opened her eyes. "It's kind of surreal for me too. You are this gorgeous, magnificent woman who fights for truth, justice and the American way and- "

"Hold on there, buddy, I'm not Superman."

"I love that you got that reference. What I mean is that here you are doing amazing things every day and I'm just this guy who writes books about other people who do amazing things."

"And you want to base a character on me?"

"Very much so."

"Wow."

"So you're OK with that?"

"I'm flattered Rick, really flattered. It's just yeah, wow, it's a lot to think about."

"That's all I ask; think about it. We can talk later about me shadowing you at work." Kate's eyes went wide again, but before she had a chance to respond he quickly covered her lips with his.

* * *

 **AN: Sorry for the long wait this time. It was a combination of writer's block and not making the time to sit down and work through this. It's much easier for me to stay on track during the summer, but I'll try my best to update once a week. At least know that I will never abandon a story before it's finished and I will never rush to finish it quickly. I have this planned through the twenty-one days and beyond a little bit so we see how things are when they get back to NYC (and what happens when the show airs!). Thanks so much for the reviews, PMs, follows & favorites :)**


	14. Chapter 14

**DAY 15**

Kate woke up before Rick and took off to go find more food. It wasn't raining but the sky looked suspicious so she wanted to get an early start just in case the rain came back. She returned to camp about two hours later with four decent sized fish and a handful of sea snails. Rick was tending to the fire and sitting next to something Kate had not yet seen on the island.

"Are those bananas?" Kate's eyes lit up with excitement as she ran the last twenty feet to inspect her partner's latest find. They were, in fact, bananas. "Wow, this is, wow, oh my God I could kiss you!" The writer laughed as Kate broke off one of the bright yellow fruits and began peeling it. She let out a moan as she chewed the first bite.

"You certainly love bananas, don't you?" The way she was eating that banana should not be televised, Rick thought as she took another bite and moaned in a way that would rival Meg Ryan in the diner scene from _When Harry Met Sally_.

"Actually not really, I mean they're OK but right now this tastes amazing. Have you had one yet?" She held her banana out, offering him a bite.

"It's all yours, I ate one just before you got back. But I clearly must have missed something because you seem to be enjoying it a lot more. Or maybe yours just tastes better than mine."

"I'm just tired of the same foods over and over again. Like the papaya, this is something different. I probably won't eat bananas for months after we get back, but right now it tastes like heaven. Wherever did you find it?"

"I went west into that area that we haven't explored yet. It's on the way to our extraction point, you know where the sharks are with the smiley faces?"

"Right, the happy sharks."

"I figured I should start checking things out since we only have a week left. I was walking for about ten minutes when I ran into these bad boys."

"Are there a lot of them?" There were three left, not counting the one Kate was nearly finished with. Sure he would have grabbed more if there had been more.

"Mostly green ones, but I'm sure if I spent some more time exploring the island in that direction I could find more ripe ones. I turned around and came back after I found these because I didn't know how long you'd be gone and I didn't want you to worry if you came back and I wasn't here. It's not like I can leave a note."

"Well this is amazing, really, thanks." Kate leaned over and gave Rick a chaste kiss, right in full view of the cameras.

"What was that for?"

"The bananas. Want to see what I brought you?" Kate held out her bag full of fish and sea snails. They were in a plastic bag they had found amongst the garbage on the beach. Kate had washed it out and used it regularly on her fishing expeditions. Rick looked in the bag and then grabbed Kate for a not-so-chaste kiss.

"What was that for?"

"If you can kiss me for bananas, then I can kiss you for fish." Kate laughed as she pushed him away.

"Come on, let's cook our fish."

* * *

The rain held off and the sky cleared up later that afternoon. There wasn't a cloud in sight by the time the sun started to set. When night fell, the couple was eager for some time away from the cameras. As soon as the crew left for the night they ditched their microphones and went for a walk.

"Today was a good day." Kate was the first to speak. "I hope the next seven days are as good as today."

"Every day that I get to spend with you is a good day."

"Do you want some crackers to go with that cheese?" Rick sat down and, since their hands were joined, pulled Kate with him. She was caught off guard and landed with a squeak right in his lap.

"I mean it, Kate." The sincerity in his voice was heartwarming. Kate was glad that they were far away from the cameras so that she could take him in her arms and show him just how much he meant to her. Maybe it was too soon to say the words, but they made love on that beach with the intensity and tenderness of a couple that was deeply and eternally in love with each other.

* * *

Kate's head was on Rick's bare chest, his left arm wrapped around her naked back as he ran his fingers up and down her spine. She listened to his heartbeat as it slowed to a normal resting rate. It had been quite fast just a few minutes earlier. Her left hand was rubbing a soft patch of skin on the writer's waist.

"Penny for your thoughts?" Kate asked.

"For you, they're free. I was just thinking that you are remarkably hairless for someone who has been out here for sixteen days. Do you have some kind of primitive shaving skills that I'm not aware of? Because this beard is getting pretty long and I wouldn't mind getting rid of it."

"Yeah, tell me about it."

"What, you don't think it adds to my rugged handsomeness?"

"I prefer my men without facial hair."

"You're avoiding the question. Why is it that you don't seem to grow any body hair? Well, except on your head, which I'm quite fond of. All the usual parts that women have to shave seem to not need any shaving."

"You are quite observant, Mr. Castle. And which parts would that be?"

"Well, your legs, your armpits, and your… other bits."

"Which other bits are you referring to?" Kate whispered seductively in his ear, taking his earlobe between her teeth and sucking gently. Rick answered by running his hand ever so slowly up her hairless thigh to her center.

"Why Detective, surely you must know what I mean." He drew his hand away as Kate drew in a sharp gasp.

"As much as I would like you to believe that I'm naturally hairless, I'll admit that I did have some help by way of laser hair removal. I could give you the number of the place I went to if you're interested."

"My hair is very manly, thank you very much. I do not need any of it removed."

"Still not a huge fan of the beard. It's got to go when we get home. Way too scratchy."

"So it would bother you if I did this…" Rick pushed Kate off his chest so that she was lying down and then leaned over and kissed the side of her neck, making sure to nuzzle in close and rub his beard against her skin. He moved up her jaw and stopped just behind her ear in a spot that he knew made her weak in the knees. Sure enough she seemed to sink a bit more into the sand as he continued the assault on her neck.

"Um, what was the question?"

"I don't remember." It was another hour before the two made it back into their shelter.

* * *

 **DAY 16**

There was no rush to get up on the morning of their sixteenth day. They had been up late the night before and were quite tired from their very active midnight activities. If they had been in an actual bed instead of on a handmade palm mat outside on the ground, they probably would have spent the day in bed. The harsh reality of their current situation was that it wasn't all that comfortable. Plus, they were constantly thinking about where their next meal was coming from.

The first thing Kate did when she got up was drink some water. She had gotten into the habit of making sure that she had some water ready to drink in the morning without having to wait to boil some. What she really wanted was to brush her teeth, but since she couldn't do that she could at least try to rinse out that gross morning breath feeling.

"I'd seriously kill for some toothpaste." Kate said as she offered Rick some of her water.

"Is that a not-so-subtle hint that you're not a fan of my morning breath?"

"Not a fan of mine either, don't take it personally."

"Let's just add that to the list of things we want to do as soon as we get off this island."

"Provided that we can get past that sea of happy faced sharks." As Kate stood up she realized that she was topless. Rick was already one step ahead of her, picking up her scarf-like thing and moving to wrap it around her. He was getting pretty good at tying it on so she often let him do it for her.

The pair started their morning ritual of checking on the fire and taking stock of the food. Rick got to work opening up a coconut while Kate gathered up some sticks for the fire.

"I'm kind of surprised that you'd agree to go on this show."

"Really? Don't think I'm qualified?" Kate said sarcastically, with a smile.

"Clearly you are more than qualified, it's just you don't seem like a reality show kind of girl."

"Yeah, no, I'm not. In fact I turned them down the first time they asked."

"So they found you?"

"They found some article written about me six years ago. I had very impressive scores when I graduated the police academy and when they interviewed me they asked a lot of questions about my active lifestyle."

"Uh, just exactly how active were you?" Rick said with mock surprise.

"Not like that, perv, besides you're one to talk Mr. Page Six. More extreme sports kind of stuff."

"Yes, please elaborate?"

"You know, bungee jumping, skydiving, rock climbing. Once I even went backpacking in the mountains near my dad's cabin for an entire week all by myself."

"Did you at least tell someone where you were going?" Rick asked, his voice laced with concern. Kate turned away, not wanting to meet his gaze. She pretended to be really interested in the pile of sticks that she had been gathering for the fire. It was easy forget how different their lives were. He had a mother and a daughter who were part of his every day life. She, on the other hand, spent most of her time outside of work alone.

"I was in a very bad place, Rick. I'd just lost my mother and my father was… well he wasn't around and I wasn't thinking about safety or consequences." She glanced over at her partner but quickly looked back to her sticks when she saw the pained look on his face. She didn't want his pity. "It was a long time ago, you don't have to look like someone just kicked your puppy."

"You're more than a puppy, Kate."

 _You're everything._

"Well I wasn't naked and I brought a tent, sleeping bag and plenty of food with me. It was different back then, I don't think that anyone would have missed me if something happened. Not that I wanted something to happen, it's just different when you don't have anyone. My dad is OK now, we're both in a good place so I have him. And now…"

"Now?"

"I guess I have you too." She took a chance and looked up again. Their eyes met and Rick leaped forward throwing his arms around Kate, giving her a bone-crushing hug. She ended up dropping her sticks to hug him back.

"You have me, Kate, you definitely have me." Kate felt something wet on her cheek. Wait, was he crying?

"You can't cry over things in the past, it doesn't help you move forward. Believe me, I know."

"I'm not crying." Kate pulled back to confirm her suspicions.

"Well your eyes are leaking just a bit." She wiped the stray tears away with her thumb and kissed him tenderly on the lips. "It's OK, Rick. I'm OK now. More than OK. I have you."

 _I love you._

* * *

 **AN: I swear I had every intention of sticking to my weekly schedule and then I got sick. I must have been hit with three different viruses because every time I thought I was getting better I'd get slammed with something new. Nothing serious, but I've just been so tired and my life doesn't really have time for "tired" with three kids who need to go to school and various different activities all week long. I'm slowly trying to catch up on things I let pile up (literally, like laundry, and figuratively, like updating this fic). I wasn't sure about the bananas. There were no bananas on this episode, but according to Google they do exist in the Bahamas so I figured what the heck, let them have bananas. The reviews from the last chapter were fantastic, I loved them. Thanks so much for sticking with me :)**


	15. Chapter 15

Sometime in the middle of the night Kate was woken up by a strange sound. At first she thought it was Rick snoring, but he had never snored before and it sounded more like a snort. His arm was slung around her waist so she gave his hand a little tug. When that didn't work she twisted in his arms so she was facing him and whispered in his ear.

"Rick? Wake up, I hear something."

He didn't even stir.

"Rick!" She whispered a little louder and raised her hand to gently shake his shoulder. The snorting sound stopped and she heard a rustling in the leaves, but the writer didn't budge from his deep sleep.

Kate shrugged out of his embrace and reached into her bag for the knife that she kept nearby. The sound was coming from the forest, not the beach, so she took a few minutes to strap on a pair of woven palm sandals before leaving the shelter. She crept slowly in the darkness, trying not to make too much noise as she headed in the direction of the rustling trees and occasional snorts.

Knife in hand, she crept closer and closer until she could make out the outline of not one, but two wild boars. She raised the knife ready to strike when she noticed that one of the boars was significantly smaller than the other one.

 _Well, shit._

The knife slowly lowered to her side and Kate just stared and watched the two animals. Suddenly she was reminded of the last time that she saw her mother alive. They had breakfast together that morning before Johanna went to work. Nothing special, nothing particularly memorable, just an every day normal breakfast with her dad reading the paper and all three of them drinking coffee. Johanna was talking about their dinner plans, eager to spend more time with her daughter before Kate had to go back to California in a couple of days. And now here she was, standing there with a knife about to slaughter someone's mother. The baby boar snorted and snuggled into its mother and a tear slid down Kate's cheek. She was so lost in thought that she didn't notice Castle coming up behind her.

"Kate? Where did you – OUCH! What the hell?!" Kate was startled and turned around quickly, not realizing how close Rick was. As she spun around she instinctively raised the machete and it hit her partner in the arm.

"Oh my God, Rick, are you OK? Why the hell did you sneak up on me like that? I thought I told you to never sneak up on me!" The hand not holding the knife reached out to him.

"I was worried about you! I woke up and you were gone. Why were you going for a walk in the middle of the night with a knife?"

"I heard the wild boar again and went to investigate, but that's not important right now. How badly did I cut you?"

"I don't know, I can't see very well, can you?" Kate moved closer and tried to inspect the wound. It looked to be about three inches long and was bleeding quite a bit.

"I can't tell how deep it is, we should just tie something around it and the producers can decide if you need medical intervention in the morning." She led him back to the shelter and washed the wound off with some clean water before wrapping it tightly in one of their scraps of material.

"A kiss to make it feel better?" Kate laughed and snuggled close to him in order to give him his requested kiss, being careful not to touch his injured arm.

"Does that mean you forgive me?" He kissed her back a few more times.

"Always, Kate. Always."

* * *

 **DAY 16**

Rick needed stitches, but the producers offered to take care of that and let him continue with the challenge. The medic examined his injury and it was determined that the wound definitely required stitches, twelve of them to be exact. The medic cleaned the wound and administered a local anesthetic before stitching him up. Kate didn't know if her partner was really a big baby or just putting on a good show for sympathy, but he squeezed her hand the entire time and had a very tense expression during the whole ordeal.

"So much for reality TV." Kate said after the medic had left.

"It's happened before. I read that there was an episode where the dude slept too close to the fire and he ended up with an infected wound on his butt. It got so bad that flies laid eggs in there and he had maggots. In his butt, Kate. Maggots in his butt! They had to intervene and take care of the infected butt, so it's happened before. They just don't air it on TV."

"Well, that explains why they put a sterile bandage on it and then wrapped that dirty rag back over it." It wasn't the same dirty rag from the night before since it was now covered in blood, but it was another similar scrap from their island garbage stash.

"They definitely won't show any of this on TV. I'll make sure to tell the diary cam all about how you stabbed me in the dark with a knife."

"Is that really necessary?"

"That wasn't caught on camera so it's definitely necessary to explain why my arm is wrapped up. Also it makes for great storytelling."

"Why can't the story be that you are trying to start a new fashion trend by wearing arm bands?"

"Afraid of being prosecuted for domestic violence, Detective? Don't worry, I'm not pressing charges." That one earned him an eye roll.

"It would have been ruled self defense. You snuck up on me in the dark."

"What happened to the wild boar? Did I ruin our chances at bacon and pork chops by showing up when I did?"

"No, that part wasn't your fault. I abandoned my mission before you even showed up." Kate sighed and sat down on a palm mat near the fire. Rick was getting good at reading her body language and he could tell that there was more to this story.

"Did something happen?" Castle sat down next to Kate and took her hand in his.

"I had a clear view of the boar and it would have been an easy kill. But then I noticed something I didn't expect. There were two boars."

"Too much for you to handle?" He said this with a playful smile and a squeeze to her hand, urging her to continue with the story.

"No, it was a baby." She let go of his hand, looked down and ran her fingers through her hair.

"Oh."

"I couldn't kill Bambi's mother, Rick." Kate turned to look at him and _oh_ , there were tears in her eyes that threatened to spill over at any moment. She looked at him, begging for understanding because what she had to say was definitely not something she would say with a camera pointing at her face and three crew members within ten feet of them. And then a tear escaped, rolled slowly down her cheek.

"Don't cry, Kate, it's just a small cut, I'm going to be OK." That's what he said out loud as his finger reached out and wiped the tear away, but his gaze into her eyes conveyed everything he couldn't say. _I know that you saw yourself in that baby boar and I understand why you couldn't do it_. She smiled into his hand.

"Sorry about that, by the way. Not sure if I apologized yet."

"You didn't, but It's OK, I'm already thinking of ways for you to make it up for me."

"I'll catch us a nice fish, make you dinner tonight. How's that?" She patted his thigh with her hand, gave him a wink and stood up.

"That's a good start. I'm not supposed to get my arm wet so I can't go clean off in the ocean. I may need some help, you know, cleaning."

"What is it that you're suggesting, Mr. Castle? Kate folded her arms and looked at him with slightly squinty eyes.

"Perhaps you could give me a sponge bath later, nurse Beckett?" He flashed her one of his charming smiles; the kind that made the girls swoon and bare their chests for his sharpie.

"In your dreams." Kate turned sharply and took off, leaving him to stare at her backside as she threw in an extra sway to her hips that he was sure was just for his benefit.

"Every night, Kate, every night!" He called after her.

* * *

Kate only came back with one fish after her fishing expedition. She offered the entire thing to Rick, feeling bad that she couldn't catch them a decent sized meal. He, of course, refused and tried to get her to eat the whole fish considering she'd burned more calories fishing while he just sat at camp tending the fire and resting. In the end they shared the fish as well as one coconut and one banana. That was all the remaining food stashed in their shelter.

They escaped the cameras when night fell and Rick led his partner away from their shelter. He wanted to talk to her some more away from the cameras. Make sure she was OK after what happened with the wild boars. When they arrived at their usual spot on the beach, Kate was already pushing him down, climbing over his lap and kissing him senseless. Rick had a hard time remembering why he wanted to talk in the first place.

"Kate." Rick started, between kisses.

"I'm trying to kiss it and make it feel better, Castle. Am I doing something wrong?" She pulled back, undid her top and tossed it to the side. She reached her hands up to push Rick's chest down to a lying position but he caught her hands and fought to keep them upright.

"No, no, this is great. Perfect really, I just want to talk to you first, make sure that you're OK."

"Pretty sure it's me who's supposed to be making sure that you're OK. Seeing as I was the one who injured you. Trying to make you feel good." She wiggled a bit and pressed her lower body into his, eliciting a groan in response. "Feels like it's working." Kate leaned in to nuzzle his neck as she tried once more to press his back into the sand. Rick let her this time, but he rolled onto his side and waited until she lifted her gaze to look at him.

"The baby boar, Kate. Are you OK? I know that must have been hard for you." He wrapped his arms tight around her, keeping her pressed close while he searched her eyes for an answer.

"You're sweet to worry, but it was just a moment in time. It brought up some memories of the last time I saw my mother alive, but I'm OK I promise. The symbolism of the moment was just surreal, don't really know how to explain it. My mom was stabbed with a knife and there I was holding a knife about to kill someone's – some pig's – mother. I just couldn't."

"Of course you couldn't, it's OK. Six more days, Kate, we've got enough food between the fish, sea snails and fruit. We don't need the boar."

"No, we don't, but you know what I do need?" She was kissing him again.

"What?" It was a whisper that he breathed between kisses.

"You."

* * *

 **AN: Thank you for all the wonderful reviews and well wishes, I am feeling much better and have managed to stay healthy. I got a little bit ahead of myself here and had to find a stopping point for this chapter. Good news is that means the next chapter should definitely be up by next weekend. By the way, the maggots in the butt crack story was true, it really happened in one of the N &A episodes (gross). **


	16. Chapter 16

**DAY 17**

The medic came back in the morning to change Castle's bandage and make sure his cut wasn't getting infected. Everything looked good so his arm was re-bandaged and wrapped back up. After the medic left, the two survivalists put their sandals on and set out on the path that brought Rick to the bananas. He was eager to show Kate that part of the island and the pair hoped to find some more food.

Kate let Rick lead her through the jungle in the direction that they would have to go for extraction in just four days. Walking behind him she noticed that his shorts were lying low on his hips, which was a stark contrast to how they fit when he first found them and put them on. Nine days earlier when they had first moved out to the beach those same shorts were quite snug. She smiled as she remembered teasing him about a muffin top that was now nowhere to be seen. She looked down at her own body and wondered how she must look and how much weight she lost.

"This is where I found the first bunch of bananas. Right over here, next to all these green ones. If we explore this area I'm sure we could find some more ripe ones." Rick's voice brought her out of her thoughts.

"Should we keep walking in this direction? See what else there is?" According to the map they were still a good two miles from their extraction place so getting familiar with this area was not a bad idea.

Rick agreed and the pair continued on in search of bananas and whatever else the island had to offer. After another ten minutes, Kate spotted another banana tree with some ripe bananas. They were quite high up in the tree, but Rick was eager to test out his climbing skills and show off for his girlfriend. He successfully reached the bananas, grabbed them and then jumped down from the tree. The jump was only a few feet, but when he landed he felt something move under his feet. Something like a giant slippery rope. When he looked down and saw the enormous snake that he was _standing on,_ he screamed and threw the bananas in the air. He also leaped back and nearly tackled a very surprised Kate to the ground.

"What is it?" Kate asked, her voice filled with concern as she put her hands out to steady herself and her partner.

"A snake! I landed on a snake, quick give me the knife." Kate held her bag out so Rick could take the machete out. Her first instinct was to take care of this herself, but she had done enough damage with the knife already and she was happy to let her partner take over. He wasn't the chauvinistic type who felt that the man should be the one to provide for the woman, but he was chivalrous by nature and she knew it would boost his ego and make him happy to be the one to kill the snake.

Ten minutes later the writer and the detective were walking back to their camp carrying a fresh bunch of yellow bananas and a headless Bahamian Boa. The snake looked to be about four feet in length and was quite heavy. As big as it was, it was small for a Bahamian Boa, which could grow as large as eight feet long. Rick wrapped it around his neck to carry back to camp, putting the weight of the snake on his shoulders and avoiding the use of his injured arm. He was so happy with his kill that he was practically skipping back to camp. Kate couldn't help but smile along with her happy partner.

* * *

Later that night, in their private spot away from the cameras on the beach, they sat holding hands and resting their full bellies.

"Snake is surprisingly tasty." Rick said, rubbing small circles on the hand he was holding.

"Tastes just like chicken." Kate joked, with a giggle. "Although I'm starting to forget what chicken tastes like."

"Tastes just like Boa." They both laughed. "Thanks, by the way, for not making fun of me when I was screaming like a girl back there."

"Oh really? I hadn't noticed." Kate said with a wink and turned her head so their foreheads were touching. "It was a very manly scream. Plus you did land on top of a giant snake so I'll give you a pass on that one."

"Thank you." Rick lifted her chin and gave her the sweetest kiss. "I had fun today."

"Me too." They were both smiling and she realized how true that statement was.

* * *

 **DAY 18**

Kate woke up alone in the shelter. She found Rick by the fire studying the map and she got up to join him. He turned and smiled at her when he felt her presence.

"Checking out your smiley faced sharks?"

"Trying to figure out how we're going to get to our extraction point." Rick pointed out past the sharks. It looked like they needed to swim a good two miles out to the location where they would be picked up. First they would have to walk a mile or three through the jungle, past their banana spot, before even getting in the water.

"I have an idea." Kate said. She had been thinking about it, but hadn't brought it up yet.

"Me too. How about we- "

"Use the garbage and-"

"Build a raft!." They both said in unison, faces inches apart as they both broke out in matching grins.

"We are so in sync." Rick said, not being able to help himself from grabbing her and giving her a quick kiss on the lips.

They had already found a rather large piece of driftwood that they had been using as a shelf of sorts for the other garbage they had been collecting. There were also several empty soda bottles, other plastic bottles, and various bits of rope. Most of the rope parts they had weren't usable so Kate started gathering palm fronds to use for making ropes. She spent the rest of the day braiding the palm while Rick continued to gather things that could be used for the raft.

Spending most of the day apart meant that they were each left alone with their thoughts. The camera crew split so that one stayed with Kate and the other took off after Rick. It was during these times apart that the producers allowed the crew to ask the survivors questions, prompt them to talk about their time on the island. Rick and Kate had already gone over the ground rules about what they would and wouldn't say about their personal relationship during these times apart. At first they had agreed to neither confirm nor deny if directly asked. No one asked, which they were both grateful for.

As the days wore on and they grew more comfortable showing affection for one another in front of the cameras, they agreed that it was more appropriate to confirm the relationship if directly asked. Neither one wanted it to appear as if they were just fooling around without any real commitment. Richard Castle wouldn't be the only public figure after this show aired; Kate Beckett would be a celebrity of sorts in her own right.

Kate had about five feet of rope completed before she was asked the question she had been anticipating ever since their relationship became obvious to the crew.

"So Kate, tell us about your relationship with Rick." It was Angela, the one female crewmember that was with them on the island. Kate wondered if that was deliberate on their part, thinking that she would be more likely to open up for another woman.

"Rick and I are getting along really well, we seem to be on the same page most of the time. We work really well together and that's really important considering it's just us out here." Kate picked her words carefully, but she had an idea about what was coming. Their luck was bound to run out on this front. Even the Discovery Channel couldn't completely ignore what was going on even if the primary focus of the show was survival.

"You and Mr. Castle seem quite close."

"Of course we are, when you've been through what we've been through together there's no way to avoid becoming close."

"Kate, we'd like you to talk about your personal relationship. It's going to be pretty obvious when the show airs so you might as well address it." Well OK then, looks like we're getting straight to the point.

"I know this isn't he most traditional setting, but yes, Rick and I are dating. Well that sounds silly because we can't exactly go on dates out here, so I guess it's more accurate to say that we are in a relationship. I didn't come on this show looking to get involved with my partner; it was the furthest thing from my mind. And now here we are and I couldn't be happier. Rick is a kind, giving, caring man and I'm really lucky to have found him." Angela seemed to be happy with this response because she didn't press any further.

Meanwhile, about a mile down the beach Rick was thrilled to be able to finally talk about his relationship with Kate. If it were up to him he would have announced it the morning after they shared their first kiss. He was falling in love with his partner and he didn't care who knew.

"Kate is the kind of woman who wouldn't give me a chance in the real world. I think if I had met her in any other setting I would have had to work a lot harder to break her walls down, so to speak. She's both brilliant and gorgeous, which is a deadly combination. I knew instantly that she was someone that I wanted to get to know better, ideally with clothes on in a more socially appropriate setting that's conducive to asking a woman out properly on a first date. But here we are, stranded on a deserted island and I am the proverbial last man. It's more than that, of course. If you can see even a fraction of what Kate and I feel for each other then everyone who is watching us will know that what we have is real."

* * *

Rick returned with several more large pieces of driftwood and a decent pile of random garbage that included more strips of cloth, plastic bottles and the remains of a Styrofoam cooler. Kate successfully braided about twenty feet of rope and still managed to gather a bunch of sea snails and a couple fish for dinner. One look from Rick upon his return and Kate knew that he had been ambushed about their relationship in a similar manner.

"They asked you too?" Kate asked her partner, already knowing his answer. He nodded, confirming her suspicions.

"Are you OK?" His concern for her feelings was evident in the weight of his stare and the grip of his hand on hers.

"Of course I'm OK, we have nothing to hide. I'm a private person by nature, but I knew that by coming on this show I was going to have to give up some of that privacy. I didn't really expect to find myself in this situation, but here we are and I'm not ashamed of us." Rick smiled one of his big goofy grins that melted her heart and made her stomach do somersaults.

"We don't have to announce anything right away. I'm sure they will want the show to air first, let people find out as they watch. That will give us time to figure things out ourselves, without the public scrutiny."

"Figure things out?" Every so often Kate's insecurities rushed to the surface. She didn't know where Rick was going with this conversation.

"Well, like where we're going to sleep every night. Do we alternate nights staying at your place and my place or should I just move you right in to my loft when we get back." Kate started coughing, having just taken a bite of her banana. "Relax, I'm kidding. Well sort of, but you should see the look on your face right now." Kate let out a nervous laugh and shook her head.

"What am I going to do with you?"

"Anything you want, Kate."

* * *

 **AN: I have all these great ideas for what's going to happen when they get off the island, so unfortunately (or fortunately, for later chapters) I've been focusing on that instead of writing the bits I should be writing now. I don't want to rush them off the island, but the rest of their time on Andros is really just filler at this point. I'm trying to figure out how to add some drama and/or excitement into their last few days. That doesn't mean angst, so don't worry. I'm not going to pull a season 8 (ohhhh, snap!). BTW, SO happy that breakup business is over. I never lost faith, but it was super annoying.**


	17. Chapter 17

**DAY 19**

The medic came out to check Rick's wound in the morning to make sure that it wasn't getting infected. It had been 48 hours since it was last checked, but Rick was careful to keep the wound dry and it wasn't bothering him. Everything looked good so they changed the bandage and wrapped him back up.

Rick and Kate worked seamlessly throughout the day as they began to assemble their raft and continued to gather food. Rick wanted to continue their conversation from the day before, but he had to wait until the sun set and the cameras went away. Truth was, he wasn't really looking forward to leaving the island. Of course he would rather be completely alone with Kate, but he had grown to be quite fond of their little island paradise. He missed his daughter fiercely, and OK he missed his mother just a bit too. Also the food situation wasn't exactly ideal.

Kate was starving and she really missed her wardrobe. The only thing she would miss about this island was the man she was with and he was coming with her so really there was nothing to miss. So why wasn't she jumping for joy with the knowledge that in just two more days this would all be over? She knew her insecurities weren't rational. Would things be the same when they got back to New York City? No. But they could be better. She tried to stay positive and think about all the things they would be able to do together when they got home.

 _Home._

The saying, "Home is where the heart is" popped into Kate's thoughts. She looked over at her boyfriend who was busy opening coconuts for their "lunch". He was whistling while he worked and he looked adorable with is hair flopping over his forehead and covering his eyes. She remembered how he looked that first day, his hair perfectly coiffed and probably gelled into place. That was handsome, but this was adorably sexy. She thought about running her fingers through his hair - grabbing onto the ends while he screamed out her name – and she began to blush furiously. How could she get this turned on by just looking at the man? He must have felt the burn of her stare because he looked up and caught her eye.

"Really, Rick?" Kate called out.

"What?"

"Britney Spears? Couldn't you pick something better to whistle?" She put down the rope she had been weaving and walked over to join him.

"It's not my fault you don't appreciate the classics."

"'Baby One More Time' is _not_ a classic." Kate reached up and used her fingers to comb Rick's hair back, pausing at the back to gently massage his neck.

"Oh come on, I bet you secretly love it."

"Maybe back when it first came out."

"See? You _are_ a Britney fan!"

"I was a thirteen year old girl, Rick. What's your excuse?"

"I'm the father of a teenage girl?"

"Who wasn't even born yet when that song came out."

"What can I say, she's a fan of the classics."

"Right, I'm sure _she_ is." Kate stopped rubbing the writer's neck and paused, staring off into the distance.

"Hey, Kate? You OK? I take requests, you know, you can pick the next song."

"No I was just thinking about something from the song. The part where she says: _Boy you got me blinded._ _Oh pretty baby, t_ _here's nothing that I wouldn't do._ _It's not the way I planned it..._ It made me think about how I didn't come on this show looking for you, but here we are and I'm kind of taken by you. I don't know how to explain it, it's like suddenly this ridiculous song makes sense to me and I never even thought about it before."

"Kate, you can take me anywhere if you sing to me like that." Rick's mouth had dropped open in shock because Kate had just sung those lyrics to him and her voice was as good as (or better) than any professional he had ever heard. She was blushing again and he couldn't resist giving her a kiss on one of her bright red cheeks. He pulled back and stared deeply into her eyes. "And Kate?"

"Yes, Rick?" She was holding his gaze, staring deep into his blue orbs. His hand was resting against her cheek, his fingers gently rubbing the spot that he had just kissed.

"It's not a ridiculous song." He said that with the seriousness of a man delivering a eulogy, causing Kate to break down into a fit of laughter.

"You, Richard Castle, are a ridiculous man. Now give me my coconut."

* * *

 **DAY 20**

Rick was filled with nervous energy. The raft was complete, food was gathered for their final day and there was nothing left to do. He kept going through their stuff, restacking and organizing the things they had gathered and made over the past twenty days. They each had two pairs of woven sandals ready to go for their journey the next day. He decided to use some of the extra scraps of material to fortify the raft, make sure the sticks of bamboo that formed the base were tied tightly to each other.

Meanwhile, Kate spent a good part of the morning with a sea sponge bathing in the ocean. Rick went to join her towards the end, offering to scrub her back and getting his scrubbed in return, careful to keep his injured arm out of the water. Although they were naked during this activity, they kept everything PG in front of the cameras.

"Just think, Kate, tomorrow you will be able to take a real bath. With soap and shampoo."

"And conditioner. My hair is so dry from this salt water, I'm surprised it hasn't just disintegrated."

"I don't know what you're talking about Kate, your hair is gorgeous."

"Trust me, tomorrow it's going to be much better." She was focusing her attention on her hands, trying to scrub out the island grime that seemed to be permanently caked under her nails. "I could really use a manicure."

"Me too." Rick was looking at his own nails, which were looking equally grimy and a little too long for his liking.

"A manicure? You're such a girl."

"What I meant is, I need to trim my nails, not specifically a manicure at a manicure place. You know like with clippers, that I could do myself." Said the writer, sounding flustered.

"Right, sure you did." Kate rolled her eyes and chuckled.

"Is it so wrong for a man to want to be well groomed?"

"No, it's actually quite refreshing. I once dated a guy who cut his nails in the sink. I'd find nail bits all over the place and he even clogged the drain. I don't even want to know where he cut his toenails."

"That's gross, Kate. I would never do that. But I'm not perfect, there's bound to be something about me that you find unappealing."

"Like your taste in music?"

"Ha ha, very funny. I have excellent taste in music."

"Well you don't snore, so that's a point in your favor."

"Neither do you, but you are quite chatty when you sleep." Kate's cheeks turned red again at the memory of how Rick figured out that she knew his identity. "You're cute when you're embarrassed."

"Quit bringing that up or you'll be sleeping alone." Kate flicked the water with her fingers and sent a spray into his face.

"Hey, watch the bandage!" She flicked more water, this time careful to avoid his injured arm. "Where else would you sleep? You're stuck with me for at least one more night."

Kate leaned in close and whispered right into his ear, her breath ghosting across his cheek sending shivers down his spine. "Stuck with me longer than that, Mr. Castle." And with that she turned around and swam off down the shore, leaving him staring after her and cursing his injured arm.

* * *

Later that night, after the crew was gone, the pair snuck off for some private time during their last night alone on the island. They walked hand in hand down the beach in silence for a good thirty minutes before either of them spoke. When they reached their usual spot, Rick made himself comfortable, lying down in the sand and gently pulling Kate's hand to bring her down with him. She came willingly and rested her head on his chest. In this position she was able to listen to the steady beat of his heart with the sound of the waves gently hitting the shore in the background. It was a very soothing sound. Kate closed her eyes, gently tracing circles in the soft skin of his stomach with her fingers.

"I have a house in the Hamptons." Rick said as he played with his girlfriend's hair, enjoying the tickling sensation of her fingers on his skin.

"Is that an invitation?" Her hand traveled north and now her fingers traced the width of his broad chest, well the part she wasn't lying on.

"I hope so. I know it won't be the same, but the beach is private and we can still have moments like this. I really like moments like this, Kate." He stilled her roaming hand by covering it with his own.

"Me too. I'm so glad I decided to come on this show." Castle chuckled at her confession, his chest moving beneath her head causing her sit up and look down at the writer. "Why is that so funny?"

"Honestly, I don't even know, but I'm even more glad that you decided to come on this show. I can't imagine being here with anybody else." He reached up to push the fallen strands of hair behind Kate's ear and lifted his head up to press a soft kiss to her lips. When they pulled apart she resumed her spot on his chest.

"Who knows, maybe you would have made a love connection with some other woman. Someone less complicated." Kate was being cheeky, but there was an underlying note of fear that she wasn't good enough. Not just for Richard Castle, celebrity mystery writer, but for anyone. Ever since her mother was murdered and her case remained unsolved Kate had felt broken. Men didn't usually want broken women.

"Not possible. I've never met anyone like you, Kate. You're extraordinary."

"You've only known me for twenty days."

"Best twenty days ever." Kate slid up his body so that her head was resting right next to his. Rick turned to face her, nuzzling her neck as he peppered kisses across her jaw until he reached her lips. He would never get tired of kissing Kate Beckett.

"Mmmmm, Rick?" Kate tried to put some space between them but he held her close, not willing to let go. "Maybe we should, you know, preserve our energy for tomorrow?"

"It's our last night here, let's make some memories. We can take it slow." Rick's hand was already pushing down the fabric of her tattered skirt and his mouth was doing delicious things to her body. There was no way she could resist him and no rational reason she could think of to stop what was sure to become a beautiful memory.

* * *

 **AN: Still with me? I hope so! I'm so sorry for the delay, I had really hoped to get them off the island before the end of the year but time got away from me and then it was hard to get back into it. But here we are and "tomorrow" is extraction day! I already have a decent start on the next chapter so hopefully it will be up in about a week. Oh and the part about the nail clippings clogging up the drain was inspired by my lovely husband. So. Gross. Remember I fudged the timeline so I had to adjust Kate's age when that Britney song came out, but it makes better sense this way. Thanks to the PMs and nudges, it helped me to get back on track :)**


	18. Chapter 18

**DAY 21**

Kate woke up to find her partner propped up on one arm and staring at her.

"Staring is creepy, Rick."

"Not staring, admiring. Good morning, beautiful." He leaned down and gave her a proper kiss that wasn't at all chaste. She hummed in response.

"Rick? Not that I'm complaining, but what's going on?"

"Just giving my gorgeous girlfriend a good morning kiss. It's our last morning here so think of it as a kiss for good luck. We've got quite a trek ahead of us today."

"Last morning? Well then, I think I need some more assurances of good luck." Kate reached up and pulled the writer's head down for another searing kiss.

"Um Kate, not that I'm complaining, but the crew is already here." Kate turned to look behind her and sure enough, there they were. Grinning like idiots too.

"I can't wait until it's really just us."

"My thoughts exactly." Kate sighed and let go of the writer, dropping her hands from around his neck. "Breakfast?"

"Sure, what have we got?"

"Two papayas, one coconut, and I'm sure we can grab some bananas on the way to extraction."

"Water?"

"Four bottles filled so we can each drink one now and take one with us." Kate handed Rick one of the papayas and half of the coconut. It had taken her all of thirty seconds to split it in half with her machete. Three weeks of practice had turned the homicide detective into an expert at slicing coconuts and murdering all kinds of sea creatures.

They ate in silence, both of them thinking about the big day ahead of them. Both excited to be leaving, yet also sad about leaving a place that had become very special in so many ways. Everything they needed for the journey was neatly piled on the raft that they would have to carry with them on the several mile hike through the dense island forest.

The medic came out to inspect Rick's knife wound one last time. In light of the fact that they would be swimming for quite a distance to get to their extraction point, he was given a waterproof bandage to protect the still healing stitched up skin. They each strapped on a pair of woven sandals and were ready to leave.

"Do we have everything we need?" Kate poked her head inside the shelter one last time, looking around and making sure she didn't leave anything important. Not like they really needed anything but some things she wanted to hang onto for sentimental reasons. Like that silly thing Rick gave her to use as a bandeau top, which she was already wearing.

"I double checked our supplies last night and again this morning. We're all set to go." Rick bent over to pick up one side of the raft and Kate followed suit. They each said one more silent goodbye to their home for the last two weeks and started on their journey to extraction.

Walking holding the raft proved to be a lot more strenuous than walking without it. It took them twice as long to reach the area where Rick had found the bananas and then they paused to rest for half an hour when they got there. Sure enough, they were able to find a couple more ripe bananas to eat before continuing on their journey. It was another two hours before they reached the shoreline where they would have to enter the water and swim to their extraction point.

"Do you think maybe the sharks are just for show? Like they drew the sharks to make it look dangerous but they aren't actually in there?" Rick asked Kate.

"Rick, this is the ocean. There are sharks in the ocean, but I doubt that we are going to see any. I prefer not to think about it. No one has been eaten by a shark yet on this show and I don't intend on being the first."

"Me either."

"Excellent. So let's get out of here." Kate finished the rest of the water in her bottle and placed it in the sand. She didn't like the idea of leaving garbage behind, but they had found the bottles on the island and it didn't really make sense for them to bring unnecessary garbage with them considering the distance they would have to travel. Rick did the same and the two walked their raft to the water's edge.

They hadn't even made it twenty feet into the water when Rick's leg struck something sharp and he cried out in pain. "Shit! I think I just scraped my leg on the coral."

"Hop up on the raft, let me take a look." Kate could see a cloud of blood growing in the water. When Rick was on the raft she took off her bandeau top and pressed it to his leg. It wasn't a deep cut, like on his arm, but it was scraped up pretty badly. "We need to stop the bleeding before you get back in the water. Blood in the water might attract your smiley faced sharks."

"Well I guess now we know why the sharks are smiling!" Rick was joking, but there was an underlying tone of fear that Kate didn't miss.

"It's OK, the camera crew is right here with us. They aren't going to let us get eaten by sharks." The crew was in a small rowboat fitted with a motor that they weren't currently using about ten feet away from them.

"Oh yeah, I feel so safe with them around." His sarcastic tone made Kate chuckle. She looked over at the two crew members in the boat. The one who wasn't holding the camera gave a small wave.

"They are probably taking bets on how many more injuries you're going to sustain before we make it to extraction."

"What, like shark bites?"

"Exactly. Come on, shark kibble, it looks like the bleeding has stopped. Let's get going." Kate left her bloodied bandeau on the raft and Rick hopped back in the water. They continued pushing the raft out until they couldn't stand and then they started swimming, using the raft as a giant kickboard.

It felt like they had been swimming for about twenty minutes when Rick felt something brush by his leg. "Kate, was that you?"

"Was what me?"

"I felt something."

"I didn't. It wasn't me." Kate looked down into the water and could see that Rick's leg was bleeding again. Or perhaps it had never really stopped. "Let's get up on the raft." Kate pulled herself up on one side while Rick pulled himself up on the other side.

"See how easy that would have been for Jack and Rose?" Kate laughed. "He didn't have to die. Just think of the life they could have had together."

"You're such a romantic." Kate was still laughing when Rick took both of her hands in his and looked right into her eyes.

"Never let go, Kate, never let go." Just then they both felt something nudge the raft.

"What was that?!" They both said at the exact same time as Rick's grip on Kate's hands tightened. Before they had a chance to look they heard the sounds of a helicopter in the distance. As the helicopter grew closer it became clear that their twenty-one day journey was about to be over. Shark or no shark, it no longer mattered.

The sea helicopter landed near them and the crew helped them climb safely inside where they were given blankets to wrap themselves in. They huddled next to each other in their seats and couldn't help but embrace, tears of joy and happiness in both of their eyes. Later they would find out that the crew had indeed spotted a shark and had called the helicopter to pick them up a good mile away from their intended extraction point. The blood in the water was a recipe for disaster and the producers didn't want to take any chances.

Kate knew what to expect from here. They would spend the night in a hotel in the Bahamas where they would be able to shower, eat and get a good night's sleep before heading back to New York. They would have to undergo some medical evaluations right away and more extensive examinations when they got home. She was whisked away from her partner as soon as they landed as they were each taken to separate locations. What followed was similar to a yearly physical and it didn't take long. After they weighed her she was given a protein bar to eat. She had plans to have a proper meal with Rick that evening for dinner. Before she knew it she was standing in hot shower washing off three weeks of grime and washing her hair for the first time in what felt like forever.

Rick's physical also involved dressing his new wound and checking the old one. After he was patched up with more waterproof bandages he was allowed to shower as well. Kate was putting on a sundress that draped loosely over her slender frame when she heard a knock at the door. Richard Castle was standing on the other side looking handsome in a short sleeve button down shirt and khaki shorts. She reached up to run her hand over his clean-shaven jaw before she pulled him down for a kiss, which he more than happily returned.

"You smell so good." She said between kisses.

"You smell like heaven." Rick whispered back as he kissed her neck and nuzzled his smooth face against hers.

"And you know the best part?" Kate was shutting the door behind him and pulling him towards her bed. "There's not a single camera in here."

"We're not staying here. Is this all your stuff?" Rick had walked over to grab the small suitcase that Kate had packed in advance for this last night.

"Um, yeah, and some toiletries in the bathroom. Why? Did you want to stay in your room?"

"No. Well, yes, sort of. I kind of arranged something that I really hope you're going to like. And if you don't we can just forget it and we can stay here."

"OK, sounds interesting. What exactly did you arrange?"

"Well it's Wednesday, which means we'd be back in New York on Thursday and you aren't going back to work until Monday." This was information she had already shared with him when they were talking about how she took the time off for the show. "And I thought we both deserved a bit of a vacation after what we went through so I booked us a suite at a resort and if you're OK with it then we have the next four nights together. Alone. Here, in the Bahamas. Well Paradise Island to be exact."

"Wow, that sounds expensive. I don't suppose the show is paying for this?" Rick's face dropped. As he suspected, she might not be OK with him spending money on her.

"It's not the penthouse suite or anything too fancy, I promise. I just really want to spend some time with you Kate, before we get back to reality."

"And when we get back to reality?"

"I'll still want to spend all my time with you." Oh that sweet, sweet man. She was exhausted and tired and let's face it, in love, and she wanted nothing more than to curl up in her boyfriend's arms and rest for four days. If she was honest with herself, it was exactly what she needed. Exactly what they both needed. No cameras, no crew, no producers, just the two of them.

"And your daughter?"

"Already FaceTimed with her. She said I never looked happier and she can't wait to meet you. Also she wants to go away this weekend with her friend Paige so it works out quite well. No guilt from either side." He had such a hopeful expression on his face and Kate's heart melted in response.

"Well then, how can I say no to that?" Kate's face broke out into a wide smile and Rick sighed with relief as he pulled his girlfriend in for a bone-shattering hug. "Easy there, you will want me in one piece for what I have planned for you later." The writer loosened his grip and took Kate's hand in his.

"Come on, our plane awaits."

"Plane?"

"Small plane, don't worry, short trip to the island, no sharks." Rick was muttering in half sentences as he gathered Kate's stuff and ushered her out the door.

"What about dinner?"

"I already arranged room service."

"Is there anything you didn't plan?"

"My proposal." Kate's jaw dropped.

"Kidding, Kate! Wow, you should see your face." He gave her a quick kiss and didn't wait for a response as he dragged her from the room.

* * *

 **AN: Sorry again for the delay! At first I got caught up reading other fics - most notably GeekMom's "The Possibility of Magic". I LOVE a really good supernatural Castle AU and this definitely fits the bill. Then other things got in the way - I started a new home business and I've been focusing a lot of my energy on that (anyone heard of LuLaRoe? I'm now obsessed). Then the news about Stana not returning to** **Castle completely shattered me and I wasn't even looking forward to Monday nights anymore. Then they canceled the show and I breathed a sigh of relief because however much I love Castle, I can't bear to think of how they would write out her character. Then the finale... I'm glad they finally got their three kids as predicted by Morgan (from Chuck) in that time traveling episode. Scooby snacks if you're still following me here... anyway I can't guarantee regular updates on this story but I can tell you it's not over yet. Anyhow, I'm glad I got them off the island so there's at least a good pausing point in the story. I'll be back to regular updates in July when my life slows down a bit and I have more time for writing.**


	19. Chapter 19

It may not have been the penthouse suite, but it was definitely a few steps up from the hotel they had just left. Kate didn't even pay attention to the name of the hotel as they walked right up to their room, not even stopping to check in. The room key had materialized out of nowhere into Rick's hand, so it seemed, and their escort (presumably someone from the show) had disappeared the second they stepped in the elevator.

True to Rick's word, it was a short trip and dinner was waiting for them in the room when they walked in. It was an elegantly set table in the middle of what looked like a living room. Two silver domes sat on dinner plates with a large glass of ice water next to each one. There were also two empty champagne flutes and a bottle of champagne sitting in a silver bucket of ice nearby. Somehow their suitcases were already there waiting for them.

Rick led Kate over to the table, guiding her gently with his hand on the small of her back. When they reached the table he pulled out a chair for her before sitting down himself. He reached over and lifted both silver domes off at the same time. Kate smiled when she saw what was hidden underneath. Grilled cheese sandwiches and a pile of French fries. It was absolutely perfect and she couldn't wait to dive in. She picked up one of the perfectly buttered and grilled triangles and took a big bite, moaning as the flavors hit her tongue.

"Oh Rick, this is so good. Thank you." She finished one half of the sandwich in record time and sat back in her chair to rest before devouring the second half. She had consumed more calories in one minute than she had in an entire week on the island and she didn't want to make herself sick by eating too much too quickly.

"I listen to every thing you say, Kate." Kate gave him a quizzical look. "Night three by the blue hole not long after we shared that crab for dinner, and I quote, 'I'd kill for a grilled cheese and French fries right about now'." Kate smiled as she remembered the night in question. They had barely begun getting to know each other back then and Kate was still hiding the fact that she knew his true identity. It seemed like a lifetime ago.

"Have you been planning my first meal this whole time?" Rick grinned, a shy smile that spoke volumes.

"Yeah, pretty much. But hey, you got your sandwich and you didn't have to kill anyone to get it." The writer had been so busy watching his girlfriend eat that he hadn't even taken bite of his own sandwich yet. Kate reached over, picked up one of his sandwiches and moved it towards his mouth.

"Your turn, eat." He took the sandwich from her hands and obeyed. A similar moan passed his lips as he savored what they would both testify to being the best grilled cheese sandwiches that ever existed. They ate the rest of their meal slowly, savoring each bite of cheesy goodness and slowly nibbling on the fries. Rick was able to finish his entire meal, but Kate stopped short, leaving a handful of fries and some bread crust. They had both completely drained their glasses of water.

"How are you feeling?" The writer asked.

"Pretty good. Nice and full, no stomach pains so far. You?"

"Never felt better." He answered as he reached across and grabbed a fry off of Kate's plate. "Champagne to toast our success?" Now that they were both resting their full bellies he felt it was appropriate to offer the celebratory beverage. She nodded and he proceeded to fill their glasses. "Here's to surviving twenty-one days being sometimes naked and occasionally afraid."

"I'll drink to that." Kate said, raising her glass and clinking it with Rick's before taking a sip.

"And here's to us having many more naked times together."

"I'll definitely drink to that!" Kate laughed as she took a larger sip. Within a few moments she already started feeling the effects of the champagne. "Wow, Rick, this is going straight to my head." Castle responded by lifting the bottle and topping off her glass. "Why Mr. Castle, are you trying to get me drunk?"

"Absolutely. That was the plan, get you drunk so I could have my wicked way with you."

"Silly man. You don't need to get me drunk for that." Kate stood up, lifted her dress up over her head and tossed it onto the chair she had just been sitting in. She turned and walked towards the giant king sized bed at the other end of the room and called over her shoulder. "All you have to do is ask." Rick put his glass down and scurried after her, nearly tripping on his own chair in the process.

Rick caught up to Kate just before she reached the bed and he stilled her with his large hands, wrapped them softly around each of her shoulders. "Katherine Beckett, may I have my wicked way with you?" He unclasped her bra while he spoke and spun her around to face him, his eyes searching hers for an answer. She let her bra fall off her shoulders and it dropped to the floor. Lifting up on her toes she pressed a kiss to his mouth, answering him with a kiss that invited much more. When they broke apart he took note of the fact that she was no longer wearing any underwear. _When did that happen?_

Rick didn't need to wait for verbal affirmation, he quickly divested himself of his clothing and maneuvered Kate closer to the bed until he could safely push her back onto the mattress. "Wow, this is different." Kate said as she let her head fall back onto a pillow.

"Well we're both naked now so I don't think that's anything new." Rick was propped up on one elbow running his hand over Kate's flat stomach, drawing figure eights with his fingertips.

"The bed, I mean. We've never had sex in an actual bed." She had her eyes closed and was enjoying the sensation of lying on an actual mattress while he caressed her body.

"It's not just sex you know, never could be with you." Kate's eyes popped open and her heart clenched at the sincerity behind his words.

"Yeah, I know, I-" She was interrupted before she could finish what she was going to say.

"I love you, Kate. I've been in love with you for a while now, probably since the day we met if I'm being perfectly honest. But I think if I had to put my finger on the moment I really knew I was falling in love with you it would have to be when I kissed you the first time. Everything else was already there, you had already taken up residence in my heart. But when we kissed it just felt so right and I knew I was already completely and irrevocably in love with you." Kate stared back, not knowing what to say. "I'm sorry, I interrupted you. What were you going to say?" It took her a moment to find her voice.

"I was going to say that I feel the same way." He waited expectantly, his heart already exposed. "That it could never be just sex with you. You mean so much more to me, so much." There were actual tears starting to form in her eyes and Rick hoped that they were happy tears.

"I hope I didn't just scare you. I wanted to tell you on the island, but I didn't want you to have any doubts so I waited until I just couldn't wait anymore. And you don't need to say it back, I'm a patient man, I just want you to know how serious I am about us. About you, Kate, I" This time she interrupted him with a finger to his lips signaling him to stop.

"Rick, I love you too. I am so in love with you that it scares me, if I'm being perfectly honest. I built a wall around my heart after my mother died, wouldn't let anyone in. I couldn't risk getting hurt and you've managed to break through that wall in such a short time. It's terrifying really, I don't know if I could survive a broken heart." A tear broke free and slid down her cheek while she spoke. Rick wiped it away with his thumb and kissed the damp spot on her cheek.

"I will never break your heart, Kate."

"You can't promise that. What if things don't work out between us?"

"Have faith, Kate. I'm not saying that we will never have our disagreements or fights, but I see a future with you and I'm willing to work hard towards that future. Are you?"

"Of course, I'm all in." A second tear fell and Rick kissed it away again.

"So is it too soon to ask you to move in with me?" Kate laughed.

"Don't you think I should meet Alexis first? You can't just bring me home with you. I'm not exactly a souvenir t-shirt."

"Thank you for thinking of my daughter, Kate. Makes me love you even more." He leaned down for a kiss. "And I also noticed that you didn't say no."

"Too soon, Rick." She had one hand behind his head, running her hand through his really soft hair as they continued to kiss. "Your hair is so soft when it's clean, no sand or dirt."

"Or bugs!" Kate laughed. "And you were right. However much I loved your hair on the island, it's even more amazing now. Gorgeous," Rick let his eyes wander all the way down his girlfriend's body so it was clear that he wasn't just talking about her hair.

"Not so bad yourself, Mr. Castle." Kate replied, the look in her eyes reflecting the clear appreciation she had for the writer's body.

"You keep calling me that, makes me wonder if being with me is fulfilling some kind of fantasy about being with your favorite author." Rick was clearly teasing her, but if Kate was honest with herself – and Rick – that's exactly what was going on. Obviously there were deeper feelings involved on both sides, but technically he _was_ her favorite author even if didn't know that little fact yet.

"Does it bother you," Kate paused as she nuzzled right into his neck and sucked on his earlobe, "Mr. Castle?" she breathed right into his ear and when she said his name she ran her fingers along the very hard length of him.

"No." He managed to squeak out, his heartbeat gathering speed as she continued her assault on his earlobe. She slowly moved her body over his, straddling him as he gripped her very small waist with both hands. Kate sat up and looked right into Rick's eyes.

"And the answer is yes." Rick looked a bit confused. "Yes, you may have your wicked way with me."

* * *

 **AN: I'm back! It's July :) I've been reading a lot of the summer fics and there's some really great stuff out there! Made me realize I needed to get back to work on continuing and finishing this story. It still has a ways to go so I'm not in any rush, but I would at least like to get back to a somewhat weekly posting schedule. I generally have more time to write in the summer, but I also get a little lazy ;) I can't wait to get these two back in NYC, but they deserve a little bit of a real vacation first. I've always wanted to go to Paradise Island. We took a cruise that stopped near there in Nassau this past December, but opted to stay on the ship and have the pool all to ourselves, which the kids loved. I want to actually stay in the hotel there and swim with dolphins and other cool shit like that.**


	20. Chapter 20

Kate had no idea what time it was when she woke up the next morning, but the sun was shining in through the cracks of the curtains and she felt very well rested. A bit sore, but very well rested. Waking up naked wasn't so bad in the right conditions. This included a roof over her head, a bed, some covers and the man she loved – who was still in a very deep sleep next to her. She glanced at the clock, which told her it was just after 8am. With no reason to get up yet she positioned herself closer to her sleeping boyfriend and laid her head on his shoulder while wrapping an arm around his torso. Even in his sleep he sensed her presence and tightened his arm around her in response. Kate wasn't usually a snuggler, but she found it very easy to fall back asleep in this position.

When Kate awoke the second time, she opened her eyes to see a blue pair staring down at her. "Staring is - "

"Creepy, yeah I know. You like to say that a lot. Sorry, babe, you're going to have to get used to it."

"Babe?"

"Term of endearment. Get used to that too, honey."

"If you say so, sugarplum." Kate yawned as her body adjusted to its awake state. "Do I smell breakfast?" It was only a little past 9, only one hour since she had fallen back asleep. Surely that wasn't enough time for Rick to wake up and arrange breakfast, unless… "How much of our little vacation did you plan in advance?"

"Um, would you be mad if I said all of it?"

"When did you find the time?"

"I asked permission when the doctor was poking and prodding me and then started making arrangements in my room at the last hotel. Didn't take long, I've sort of been planning it in my head for at least a week." There was that adorable smile again that made her stomach flip in the happiest of ways.

"Speaking of, how much weight did you lose?"

"About thirty pounds. You?"

"Sixteen. Mostly muscle mass I'm sure, I've never felt so weak." Kate had tried to gain a few extra pounds before she started this adventure, but she was naturally thin and extremely active so that plan hadn't worked too well. She didn't want to scale back on her workouts because she knew she would need her strength for the twenty-one day ordeal and she didn't want to load up on junk food either. She did little things like switching from nonfat to whole milk for her coffee and she ate bigger portions at meals. She had succeeded in gaining a whole three extra pounds.

"I don't really have anything planned for today, I figured we'd just take it easy. Maybe go for a walk, check out the resort, have dinner on the beach if you're up to it." Kate was nuzzled into Rick's side and he was lightly massaging her shoulder with the hand that was wrapped around her.

"Mmmm, that feels nice. I could lie here all day." Kate couldn't remember any bed being this comfortable. _Although,_ she thought, _after three weeks of sleeping on the ground, a dollar store inflatable raft would probably feel like heaven._

"If that's what you want, then that's what we'll do." Rick was more focused on the girl lying next to him than the comfort of the bed.

"Are you always this agreeable?" Rick chuckled.

"I've got plans for us tomorrow, but today is your day." Kate smiled and was overcome with an overwhelming sense of gratitude for this man and how much he cared about her.

"Thank you, Rick. All of this is more than I ever imagined and really just perfect. Breakfast smells amazing so right now I think I'd like to eat it."

"As you wish." He hopped out of bed and Kate sat up, ready to follow him. "Stay right there, I'm bringing it to you." So she propped herself up on the pillows and smoothed the comforter out on her lap in preparation for whatever was coming. It didn't matter what the food was, she knew she was going to love it.

* * *

After breakfast they stayed in bed and watched TV. First they watched the news for a bit to catch up on current events. Nothing too important had happened during their time on the island so they moved onto something lighter and watched a couple movies. Neither one of them noticed that lunch time had come and gone until it was nearly dinner time.

"Wow, it's nearly 5 o'clock and we forgot to eat lunch." It was Kate who noticed first.

"Oh no, I'm so sorry Kate. Are you hungry? I can call for something right now." Rick felt awful and he already had the phone in his hand ready to call for room service.

"Oh gosh no, Rick, I'm not even hungry. It's going to take time to get used to eating so many meals. I'm still full from breakfast. Put the phone down, I seem to remember someone mentioning dinner on the beach earlier?"

"Of course, if you're up to it."

"However much I loved have a lazy day in this room with you, I'm feeling a little cooped up and would love to go for a walk in the fresh air. Dinner on the beach in an actual restaurant sounds great. So yeah, I'm up for it."

They took turns showering – Kate first so Rick could make the necessary phone calls to arrange their dinner reservation – and got dressed. Kate put on the same sundress from the day before and Rick wore the same shorts with a different shirt. She hadn't pack more than a couple changes of clothes because she didn't think she'd be spending more than a day or two in the Bahamas after extraction. Rick had actually ordered her some more things from the hotel's boutique stores, but he hadn't told her yet. He was waiting for them to be delivered first, which would probably happen the next morning.

It felt weird to be walking through a busy resort. Couples and families were everywhere they looked. It was quite refreshing to see that no one paid them much attention and there weren't any cameras recording their every move. Kate had no idea where they were going, but she enjoyed walking with her boyfriend, hand in hand, as he led her to their destination. After about fifteen minutes of walking they rounded a corner to find the beach restaurant that he had picked. The Maître D showed them to their table, which was outdoors on the sand with a gorgeous view of the ocean. The tables were spread out so that they were a good twenty feet from the nearest couple.

Eating dinner was a little bit easier than the night before. They even shared a delicious piece of tiramisu for dessert and not one crumb remained on the plate. The sun was setting just as they finished. It was the perfect ending to a perfect day.

* * *

True to Rick's word, he had more plans for them the following day. In the morning they swam with dolphins, an activity that the Atlantis resort on Paradise Island is well known for. They had a private session with a trainer that Kate imagined cost a small fortune. She decided not to mention this to Rick because he was clearly enjoying himself and would probably feel bad if she complained about the cost. It would take some time to get used to dating a very wealthy man, but she made a promise to herself to try not to focus on it too much.

In the same vein, Kate had graciously accepted the clothing that Rick had sent to their room from the hotel's boutique stores. It had arrived that morning during breakfast and she could tell that he was nervous about her reaction. Instead of freaking out about how much it must have cost him, she had simply given him a kiss and said "thank you." He didn't go overboard and, as it turns out, Richard Castle had great taste in picking out women's clothes. She reasoned that it probably had something to do with being raised by a single mother and having a teenaged daughter.

After lunch (which they remembered to eat) Rick had arranged private surfing lessons for both of them. Kate teased him that he was just asking for more injuries, but in the end it was her who ended up a little bruised from falling awkwardly on the board a few times. It was a first for both of them and they really enjoyed the experience.

The next day, Saturday, was also their last full day on the island. Rick had booked them both a full day at the resort's luxury spa. They had regular massages, hot stone massages, facials, haircuts, manicure, pedicures… if the spa offered it then they experienced it. Kate's favorite was when they were covered in some kind of mud or clay and wrapped up in some kind of foil. They were together in the same room for this one and Kate couldn't stop laughing when Rick pointed out that they looked like giant burritos. "Soylent Green is people!" He exclaimed loudly to the surprised Australian girl who was giving them this mineral wrap treatment. She looked to be about 18 years old and clearly had no idea what he was talking about. But Kate laughed, and that's all that mattered.

Kate left the spa feeling beautiful again. Her skin was so soft and there was barely any trace of the bug bites that had plagued her that first week at the blue hole on the Island of Andros. The cut on Rick's arm didn't even need a bandage anymore. The stitches were gone and all that remained was a thin pink line. The coral scrape on his leg that had bled so much on day twenty-one was now a messy looking scab, but it didn't bother him at all. They both thoroughly tested out the softness of each other's skin that night as they took full advantage of their last night alone together.

* * *

"Funny, I don't remember flying first class on the way out here." They were

sitting together on the plane about to take off. Kate had a pretty good idea how they ended up in first class and was also pretty sure that it wasn't because the _Naked and Afraid_ producers were feeling generous.

"Business expense, Kate. My publisher is covering my travel expenses since this entire adventure was originally to do research for Derrick Storm."

"And how exactly did I end up in first class? I have nothing to do with your research." Before the words were out of her mouth she knew exactly how Rick was going to respond.

"That's not entirely true. Remember what I asked you on the island?"

"I believe we already had that dinner date." She nudged him playfully with her elbow.

"You inspire me, Kate, in so many ways. The character I'm going to base on you will blow Derrick out of the water. One more book for him, then it's time to move on."

"Great, Richard Castle fans all over the world are going to know me as the woman who killed Derrick Storm." A woman from the seat across the aisle overheard that and turned to stare at the two of them. She nudged her companion and whispered something in his ear. Then they both started staring.

"She has no idea what she's talking about." Rick called over to the gawking couple. "Derrick Storm is alive and well." Kate turned her head into the writer's shoulder in order to stifle the giggle that was struggling to come out. To Kate he whispered, "Great, I hope they forget about this in about a year."

"Not likely. Sorry about that." Just then the engines roared to life as they sped down the runway. Within seconds they were lifting off and heading home to NYC.

* * *

 **AN: Apparently (according to Microsoft Word and whatever spell check this website uses) "** **snuggler" is not a word. I decided it should be and used it anyway. I've always wanted to stay at Atlantis and swim with dolphins, it's totally on my bucket list. Thanks for the reviews, follows & favorites!**


	21. Chapter 21

The plane touched down in JFK at 4pm. Rick had arranged a car service to pick them both up. Even though Kate was eager to meet his family, she wasn't ready to be greeted by them at the airport or have dinner with them the first night. Detective Beckett was back on duty the following morning and she needed a good night's sleep in her own apartment.

Rick had his driver stop at Kate's apartment first. Despite her protests, "I can carry my own bag, Rick," he carried her luggage all the way up to her apartment. Besides being chivalrous, he was very interested in seeing where she lives. She allowed him a quick peek of the living room and kitchen before she ushered him out the door, reminding him that his mother and daughter were eagerly waiting for his return.

"Come one, Kate, can I at least see your bedroom?" She was already pushing him out the door.

"Have to give you something to look forward to." Kate gave him a quick kiss on the lips and then tried to shut the door. Rick nudged his knee into the opening to prevent her from closing it completely.

"Not without a proper kiss goodbye." He pulled her in tight, flush against his body and gave her a kiss worthy of a soldier going off to battle. When he released his hold, Kate leaned into him, her lips searching for his, but he was already gone when she snapped out of her kiss-induced haze.

"Love you, Kate, see you tomorrow!" Kate just smiled and waved as she watched the elevator doors close on her boyfriend's smiling face. She closed the door and took her suitcase to her bedroom so she could unpack. Unpacking took about twenty minutes. It was Sunday so she wouldn't be able to pick up her mail until the next day. Since she was gone for so long, Kate had put a temporary hold on her mail so it was all sitting at the post office.

There wasn't much on TV, she watched the local news for about fifteen minutes and turned it off in favor of a book. After re-reading the same page three times she realized that wasn't going to work either. Kate was missing a certain mystery writer and couldn't really focus on anything else. She picked up her phone and decided it was time to make a phone call to another certain someone that was probably waiting to hear from her.

"Katie! It's about time, I was worried." Jim Beckett had been waiting for his daughter's call and was very happy to hear from her.

"Hi, Dad. What's there to worry about? I called you a few days ago after the show finished taping."

"I know, but that call lasted all of two minutes. I guess this means that you're home?" Kate hadn't said much in the call she made to her father after extraction. She was hungry, tired and not in the mood for all the questions about her adventure. Plus the additional questions she was sure to get once she told him about Rick. She had simply mentioned that she was going to stay a few days at a hotel to rest before coming home and that she'd call him when she was back in New York.

"Yeah, I'm home. Just walked in the door. So how are you?"

"I'm doing great, mostly just working and worrying about my daughter hanging out naked with a strange man in the jungle." Kate laughed.

"I guess you'll have to watch the show to see what happened."

"Is that all you're going to tell me? Was he at least a good partner?"

"Yes, he was a great partner. He lives in the city actually, so you might get a chance to meet him. Maybe he will answer your questions. It was a really great experience, I'm glad that I did it."

"Meet him? Is there a reason that I need to meet him? Katherine, what aren't you telling me?" Oh she was so busted. _Time to come clean!_

"I'm kind of dating him so yeah, there's a reason that you need meet him." Silence. "Dad? Are you still there?"

"So let me get this straight. You spend three weeks naked on a deserted island with a strange man and now he's your boyfriend? Am I going to be a grandfather too?"

"NO! Dad, stop it, it wasn't like that." Well it was, but her father didn't need to know that. "Don't make me regret telling you." Now Jim was the one laughing.

"Just teasing you, Katie. I really don't want to think about how you ended up together, but that's your story to tell. Or the camera's I guess. Well I'm looking forward to seeing you and meeting this fellow."

"Maybe next weekend, brunch Sunday?"

"Sure, sounds good. I love you, Katie."

"Love you too, Dad. Goodbye." Kate breathed a sigh of relief as she hung up the phone. Well, that was taken care of. She looked at the time on her phone and realized it was nearly 6pm and she should probably be eating dinner. One look in her fridge reminded her that she didn't exactly have any food to eat. It was pretty much emptied out before she left, not that she kept much food in there to begin with. Kate opened up the kitchen drawer where she kept all her takeout menus, but before she could even pick one up her doorbell rang.

 _Well that's strange_ , she thought, she wasn't expecting anyone. Kate looked through the peephole to see a familiar deliveryman from one of her favorite Chinese restaurants. Confused, she opened the door.

"I didn't order anything, maybe it was one of the neighbors?"

"No, Miss Beckett, it's for you. All paid for, tip included." He held out the familiar bags and Kate was hit with a smell that had her mouth watering.

"Oh, OK, thank you." She took the bags and closed the door. Inside was enough food for at least four people and it included all of her favorite dishes. It didn't take a detective to solve this mystery. Kate picked up her phone and sent Rick a text.

 **Thank you for dinner, I was just about to order something.**

The reply showed up almost instantly.

 **I told you I was going to make sure you were well fed.**

 **I have to be careful what I say around you. You really do remember everything I say. How did you know what to order?**

At one point on the island they had been talking about their favorite restaurants and Kate must have mentioned this one.

 **After I gave them your name the woman who took my order said she knew exactly what to send you.**

Well that made sense. Kate ordered from there at least once a week.

 **Well it's perfect, so thank you.**

 **You're very welcome.**

* * *

Rick missed Kate the second he left her apartment. He knew it was silly, but he felt like he was missing something the entire way home. Even when he walked in the door and was greeted with hugs and kisses from his two favorite redheads, he still couldn't shake the feeling that Kate should be there with him. When Alexis surprised him with one of his favorite home-cooked meals he immediately picked up the phone and ordered dinner for Kate. There was no way he could enjoy his meal unless he knew that Kate was eating something she loved too. It was only after he hung up the phone that he was able to sit down and eat with his mother and daughter.

"Dad, you're too skinny, have some more lasagna." Alexis was already spooning more onto his plate so he couldn't really say no.

"Don't worry, Alexis. I've already gained five pounds back in just as many days. But thank you, this is delicious." Alexis beamed.

"So, Richard, this woman you spent a month with frolicking around naked, when do we get to meet her?"

"Her name is Kate and you will get to meet her as soon as I can convince her to come over for dinner. And we weren't frolicking around naked, mother, this was a hard core survival show."

"Oh I'm sure it was hard core something." Martha snickered.

"Gram!"

"Sorry, dear." Martha said to Alexis.

"It's more than just a fling. Kate is unlike anyone I've ever dated before and honestly she's way out of my league."

"No judgments from me, Kiddo. I'd have done the same thing if I were in your situation. All that time naked with nothing much to do, it's just basic human nature."

"Thank you, mother, for that incredibly disturbing mental picture."

"Gross." Was all Alexis had to say.

"It's more than just a physical attraction, but I'm not going to try to convince you. When you meet her you'll see for yourself."

"Does she know that you're rich and famous?" Alexis needed to make sure that she wasn't just a gold digger looking for her fifteen minutes. After all, it was a reality show and a lot of times the people who went on them were really just aspiring actresses looking for exposure.

"It's not that kind of show. Remember how I told you that the producers promised to pair me with someone who was an experienced survivalist? Richard Castle groupies are brainless bimbos, not brilliant professionals. The show tracked her down and practically begged her to be on it. She turned them down the first time they asked."

"OK, Dad. I trust you. If you say she's great then I'll keep an open mind."

"You're going to love her just as much as I do." Both Alexis and Martha paused, their forks in mid-air. Rick had to replay what he had just said in his head to figure out why they were both staring at him, eyes wide in shock.

"You love her?" Alexis asked.

"I do." And that was the moment Rick received Kate's text thanking him for the dinner he sent her.

* * *

Later that night Rick and Kate lay awake in their own beds in their separate apartments. Exhausted as they were, neither one could fall asleep. Kate kept rolling over in frustration, no position was comfortable and she wasn't the least bit tired. Rick was having a similar experience. He had already spent three hours writing after dinner and he went to bed because he was having a hard time keeping his eyes open. But when he finally lay down in his bed, sleep wouldn't come to him.

Midnight. Kate had to be up in seven hours and she did not want to be tired her first day back. She knew why she was having trouble sleeping, but it was ridiculous. She was a strong, independent woman and she was perfectly capable of sleeping by herself. Kate picked up her phone a dozen times, but couldn't get up the courage to make the call that she desperately wanted to make. Just as she was about to give in to temptation, her phone buzzed with a text.

 **Are you still up?**

Well, that did it. All of her willpower flew out the window and she couldn't find his name fast enough to make the call. It only rang once before he picked up.

"I guess that's a yes?" She could hear the smile in his voice.

"Can't sleep, you?"

"Well I was writing for awhile, thought I was tired, but it seems I can't fall asleep without you." And there it was, he was having the exact same problem.

"I hate to be the needy girlfriend, but - "

"Say no more, Kate, I'll be right there." Rick was already jumping out of bed and throwing on a t-shirt and jeans. He wrote a quick note to Martha and Alexis and left it on the kitchen counter where they were sure to see it. Kate was exhausted and wanted nothing more than a good night's sleep. Twenty minutes after she hung up the phone the detective and her writer were snuggled up in her bed. Both of them fell asleep within seconds.

* * *

 **AN: I'm going away this week to the Beachbody Summit in Nashville (yay!) so I probably won't have time to write anything this week, sorry! And to the guest reviewer who mentioned they heard about my story from a Twitter suggestion, that seriously made my day! I didn't know that someone tweeted my story and for some reason that makes me insanely happy.**


	22. Chapter 22

Richard Castle woke up in an unfamiliar, empty bed. He sat up slowly and examined his surroundings. It was nearly 1am when he had shown up the night before and he hadn't had the chance to properly view Kate's bedroom. Bed was Queen sized, nice firm mattress, white sheets with a blue comforter. Furniture was mostly dark woods, not all from the same matching set but they all complimented each other. Artwork on the wall was tasteful, yet feminine. There was a sepia print of a butterfly that caught his eye. He wondered what the her fascination with butterflies was as he thought back to her tattoo. Next to the bed was a floor to ceiling bookshelf completely stocked with books. Naturally he had to see if any of those books were his, so he got out of bed and wandered over there. Sure enough, one shelf contained what he determined to be the complete works of Richard Castle. And they were all first editions.

Rick selected one of his earlier, pre-Derrick Storm novels and removed it from the shelf. He looked around the room and spotted a pen sitting on Kate's nightstand. Opening up his, her?, book to the title page, he started writing a very personal inscription. He contemplated signing all them, but decided this would be more fun. It could take days, weeks, months, even years for Kate to find this, but it was something to look forward to. Rick closed the novel and placed _A Rose for Everafter_ back on the shelf, careful to put it back in the same exact spot.

Turning his attention back to the empty bed, and the eerily silent apartment, the writer noticed that there was a note left for him on Kate's side of the bed.

 _Went to work, didn't want to wake you. Lock up when you leave - take the key on the kitchen counter. XO Kate_

Looking at his watch he noticed it was already 9am, which meant he missed seeing Alexis off to school. No missed calls or texts on his phone, so he was sure that his mom and Alexis had gotten the note he left for them. He quickly made Kate's bed and got dressed, trying hard not to snoop around too much. There would be plenty of time for that, and he imagined it would be much more fun to snoop with Kate there. That way he could ask questions and get the real story. Like really, what was the deal with these butterflies? There was a collection of postcard sized butterfly photos on the wall in Kate's living room too.

The key, as promised, was sitting on the kitchen counter. He opened the fridge to find leftover takeout boxes from the night before and… well that was it. The fridge was completely bare. Kate must not have had any time to get groceries yesterday, he gathered. This empty fridge was quite disturbing. Rick opened up her kitchen cabinets until he found what he presumed to be the pantry, but the food contents were quite dismal. This was completely unacceptable and must be corrected, he thought as he grabbed the key off the counter, already planning a mental shopping list.

Two and a half hours and five different grocery stores and specialty shops later, Kate's refrigerator and pantry were overflowing with enough food to keep his girlfriend well-fed and completely nourished for weeks on end. If Rick's memory served him right, which it usually did, he had all the necessary ingredients for most of her favorite meals and some of his own as well. After all, he felt confident in the presumption that he would be spending a great deal of time in Kate's apartment and he did promise to cook for her. Just as he was admiring his work, his phone rang. An image of Kate lit up his screen, a photo he took of her that first night on Paradise Island after their grilled cheese dinner.

"Kate, hi, I missed you this morning."

"Sorry about that, did you find my note?" Kate sounded a bit distracted and very business like. The softness in her voice that he had grown used to was replaced by a clipped professional tone. She must be in work mode, he figured.

"I did, thank you. I was just about to leave."

"Don't tell me you just woke up, it's nearly noon!" Rick laughed.

"No, I'm lazy but not that lazy, thank you very much. I saw the depressed state of your refrigerator and pantry and I couldn't leave without getting you a few things first." He figured it was better to be upfront and honest about his morning activities. Kate would still be plenty surprised when she saw that it was quite a bit more than a "few" things.

"Rick, you didn't have to, I was going to pick some things up on the way home."

"I know your work hours can be unpredictable, remember my promise to you on the island? About making sure you are always well nourished?"

"I can take care of myself, I don't need - " Kate paused, took a breath and rethought her reaction. Rick was holding his breath as well, bracing himself for whatever she was going to say. "Thank you, I, well I, thank you." She finally stuttered out. "I guess I'm going to have to get used to this." Rick let out the breath he had been holding.

"You're welcome."

"So, talk to you later?"

"You bet, love you Kate."

"Yeah, me too. I…"

"I know, Kate, don't worry, I know you're at work. I respect that."

"You'll meet everyone at work soon enough, I promise."

"I don't want to be pushy or anything, but you have a standing dinner invitation with me, with us. Always." With a soft goodbye, she hung up the phone. The faintest of smiles remained on her lips. That is, of course, until she noticed out of the corner of her eye that she was being watched by two very nosey detectives.

The smile vanished. Kate turned her head quickly and caught Kevin Ryan and Javier Esposito staring at her. They tried to avert their eyes quickly, but they were busted. Hands on hip, intimidating gaze on point, Detective Beckett walked slowly over to her two best detectives. She wasn't actually upset, but they didn't need to know that. Yet.

"I know you missed me terribly during my absence, but my personal phone calls are really none of your collective business." Kate pointed her finger and waved it back and forth between the two of them, her other hand still firmly planted on her hip.

"Sorry, boss, we were just curious because, uh, you don't usually, um, what I mean is…" Ryan started, stumbling over his words.

"We're just not used to you making any kind of 'personal' phone calls at work." Esposito used air quotes when he said the word "personal".

"Who was this, uh Rick I think you said? Haven't you been stuck on a deserted island for the past month? Where did you have the time to meet anyone new?"

"Who says that I met anyone new?" Kate crossed her arms in front of her body and gave them her best poker face.

"You kind of looked all googly-eyed during that phone call so we figured this might be a new boyfriend or something."

"Googly WHAT? I have no idea what you're talking about." Oh shit, was she really that transparent? They got all that from overhearing one side of a short conversation? "Get back to work, I'm still missing a couple reports from the past few weeks. We don't have an active investigation right now so please use your time wisely." With that, Kate spun around on her heel and nervously chewed on her bottom lip. She had barely made it two feet when her phone buzzed with a new text.

 **Drinks tonight after work. I won't take no for an answer.**

Lanie, of course. Kate turned and shot some eye daggers at Esposito who dropped his phone on the floor and scrambled to pick it up while very obviously pretending that he didn't see Kate looking at him. She returned to her desk before she texted her reply.

 **I'm looking forward to it.**

Lanie was the Medical Examiner for the Twelfth Precint, Esposito's sometimes girlfriend and Kate's best friend. It looked like she would be spilling her guts about Richard Castle that evening. Not wanting to risk another phone conversation in the precinct, Kate sent another text to Rick. Might as well tell him now that dinner would definitely not be happening tonight.

 **Having drinks with Lanie after work, I'll call you when I get home.**

His reply was almost instantaneous.

 **If you want to introduce me in person rather than just talk about me, I'm happy to oblige.**

Why was everything so damn obvious to everyone?

 **You can pick me up and walk me home, is that OK?**

 **Perfect xoxo**

* * *

Richard Castle didn't know what to do with himself. He knew what he needed to do, but it wasn't what he wanted to do. He needed to get started on the next, and final, Derrick Storm book, that's what he needed to do. What he wanted to do was find out where Detective Kate Beckett worked and surprise her at the office. Walk in the door of her police precinct, give her an enormous bouquet of flowers and take her out to lunch. That, however, was entirely inappropriate given that Kate was a private person. Meeting her friends and work colleagues was something she would have to initiate. This is why he was thrilled beyond belief when he received that text about picking her up from drinks with Lanie later that evening. She had mentioned Lanie before during their time on Andros so he had a basic idea of who she was.

Rick sat down at his desk and googled Detective Katherine Beckett. "Youngest woman to make Detective in NYPD history" headlines populated the top spots on the search engine. Rick whistled in appreciation. One of her googled images showed her in full uniform with her hair pulled back in a tight bun. Most images he found showed her wearing full make-up, which was something he hadn't seen in person yet. She was stunning both with and without make-up, he decided. Rick was about to type "Johanna Beckett murder" into the search bar, but then thought better of it. He didn't want to pry into her mother's unsolved case without her permission. It just felt… wrong. Instead he googled the location of the Twelfth Precinct after figuring out that was where she worked. Looking at his watch, he still had many hours to fill before meeting Kate later so he abandoned his google search and opened up a new, blank document that would be the beginning of the end for Derrick Storm.

Two lousy pages into Derrick's last hurrah, Rick opened a new document. There was too much swimming around in his head about the new character he wanted to write based on Kate. He needed to get some of it out before he could focus his attention back on Storm. Everything that had been stuck in his head for the past month came pouring out of him. Six hours passed in the blink of an eye. He heard a knocking sound and looked up to see Alexis standing in the doorframe of his office.

"Dad, are you coming to dinner? I've been calling you for at least ten minutes." Rick jumped up from his desk and ran over to his daughter, giving her a big hug and a kiss on the top of her head.

"Sorry, Pumpkin, you know how I get when I'm in the zone. I haven't written in so long and suddenly I have too much to say."

"That's good, right? So the island inspired you?"

"Something like that, but hey I'm starving. Let's eat."

* * *

 **AN: I'm back! Sorry to those who thought I had abandoned this story, it just seems as though I only have time to write in the summer. This is why I won't be publishing my next story until it's entirely finished. I'm still unsure of where I'm going to end this one, but I had plans when I started it to continue until the show airs so Rick & Kate can watch and react to their episode of Naked & Afraid. This will give me time to explore how their relationship adjusts to life in the real world. Next up, Rick meets Lanie! And maybe some other meetings as well, I'm still working on it :) **


End file.
